<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Irondad &amp; Spiderson Febuwhump 2020 by StarPrince_Punk</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22687609">Irondad &amp; Spiderson Febuwhump 2020</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarPrince_Punk/pseuds/StarPrince_Punk'>StarPrince_Punk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>My Irondad and Spiderson Fics [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adopted Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Android Peter Parker, Angst, Anxiety, Civil War Team Iron Man, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Febuwhump, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Historical Fantasy, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Kid Peter Parker, Kidnapping, OCD, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Endgame, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Peter Parker, Suicidal Thoughts, The Following Tags Only Apply to Some Chapters:, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Trans Male Character, Trans Peter Parker, Whump, febuwhump 2020, not team Cap friendly, unrelated one shots</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 09:48:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>36,240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22687609</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarPrince_Punk/pseuds/StarPrince_Punk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Unrelated one shots using the Febuwhump 2020 writing prompts. (I'm starting late but better late than never right?) I’m using these prompts like warm-up writing exercises, hoping to experiment with writing some different AUs. Some chapters are definitely more whumpy than others. Hope you like them!<br/><br/><i><b>EDIT:</b></i> Yes I understand it’s no longer February and it’s in fact the end of 2020 but I wanted to work on this lmao enjoy.<br/>-------<br/><i>Prompts Written (in order):</i> Lost, Fever, Living Nightmare, Red Stains, Intruder, Fire, Leather Bound Wrists, Dark State of Mind, Lose You, Farewell Forever, Graceless, Stabbed, Unfortunate, Broken Heart, Hearing Loss, Brain Damage, Mind Games, Revealed Secret, Creator's Choice, Mental Illness.</p><p><i>AUs Used:</i> Transgender FTM Peter Parker (chapter 4), BioDad Tony Stark (chapters 7 &amp; 14), Adopted Peter Parker (chapters 10 &amp; 15), Knights Historical Fantasy (chapters 12 &amp; 19), Kid Peter Parker (chapter 14), Android Peter Parker (chapter 16), Peter Parker has OCD (chapter 20 and kinda also chapter 17)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>My Irondad and Spiderson Fics [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1421887</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>155</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>857</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m mad late to Febuwhump but whatever lol. I wasn’t gonna do it at first but then almost halfway through the month at 2 am I decided to start on it lmao. Better late than never I guess. I might be writing these into March but whatever. Also, all of these one shots will be unrelated and NOT connected. Hope you like them!</p><p>
  <b>!!!Chapter Warning: Mentions of Major Character Death</b>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>To say Peter was embarrassed would be an understatement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s extremely humiliating to get lost in your own home city.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To be fair, Peter was from Queens, and Manhattan was never his specialty when it came to directions. But today, he’d swung his way over the Queensboro bridge and into Manhattan. It was just where his webs seemed to take him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew why he felt like that, he just didn’t want to think about it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of asking Karen for directions, he just decided to swing aimlessly between the buildings, feeling the wind against his mask. He heard people on the ground shout, “Oh my god! It’s Spider-Man!” On most days, he’d swing down by them and give them a little wave, maybe do a flip in the air for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No today, though. Today, Peter stayed up high near the tops of the buildings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was sitting on the very top of what used to be Avengers Tower when the sun began to set.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His stomach growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter only then realized that he hadn’t eaten since noon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reluctantly, he dived off the roof, then shot out a web and swung into the air down the street. Again, he wandered aimlessly, just going where he felt. Avengers Tower wasn’t far from Times Square, so he wasn’t surprised to end up swinging through there, the big advertisements at his sides glowing in the dark night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally stopped to catch his breath a couple blocks out of Times Square, perching on top of a street lamp. He looked around. Strange, this part of Manhattan looked vaguely familiar…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s when he spotted it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The beat-up sign above a small diner that read </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘NYC’s Best Burgers’</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tightness in Peter’s chest released slightly as tears began to prick at his eyes. He took off his mask, letting his tears flow freely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He realized he hadn’t been lost at all. His subconscious had known exactly where to go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Six years ago - although, to Peter, it only felt like last year - Tony had brought Peter to the little hole-in-the-wall diner known as </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘NYC’s Best Burgers’</span>
  </em>
  <span> as a reward for acing all his final exams.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they approached the restaurant, Peter laughed. “Look at that title. Sounds like a tourist trap to me. Why should I even bother to look at this place?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because they’re not lying, kid,” Tony had said to him then. “They really are the best burgers in the whole city.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno, Mr. Stark. I think Five Guys is pretty good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you take that back, you brat,” Tony playfully messed up Peter’s hair. “Trust me. I come here all the time. The owner’s my friend. Come on,” he opened the door and entered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter followed behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inside was the classic white-and-black checkered tile floor of an old-timey diner. One wall was lined with red booths and tables, while the other had seats at a bar. To complete the vintage aesthetic, 50s music played on the radio out of ratty old speakers. It was basically empty, except for an elderly couple in the booth furthest from the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of the men behind the bar waved to Tony, who waved back and took his seat on a booth. He gestured for Peter to sit across from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter slid into his seat. The springs in the booth felt worn out, but not to an annoying degree. Just in a comfortable, homey way. On the radio, a Nat King Cole song ended and a Frank Sinatra song began to play. The speakers were so old and ragged that the audio sounded fuzzy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man behind the counter who had waved to Tony walked over to them. “Hello, Mr. Stark,” he greeted. “You getting the usual?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, please,” Tony said with a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man nodded, then glanced at Peter. “And for… your…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-Kid,” Tony finished his sentence. “He’s my kid. He’ll have what I’m having. In fact, he’ll have two - he’d a growing boy, eats a lot, you know the deal. And you know what, throw in an egg cream for him as well. And fries to share.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You go it,” The man said, not even writing the order on his notepad. He made his way to the kitchen, shouting what seemed like code to the chefs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what’d you get me? What’s your ‘usual’?” Peter asked Tony.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, Pete. Surely you know me well enough. What d’you think I ordered from the </span>
  <em>
    <span>burger</span>
  </em>
  <span> place?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t even have to think about it. “Cheeseburgers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony shot him finger guns. “Bingo. Now trust me, they're the best you’ll ever have.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even better than McDonalds?” Peter smirked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, you brat. Even better than McDonalds.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Since the diner was mainly empty, it didn’t take long for their food to come to their table. And Tony was right - Peter thought his cheeseburger was </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> good. Perfectly cooked and not dry at all. He took a fry from the little plastic basket the waiter had placed in the center of their table. It was great too - crispy and perfectly salted. He continued to eat as he talked and laughed with Tony, occasionally sipping on his chocolatey egg cream. Dean Martin played on the radio.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter liked spending time with Tony like this. Not in the lab, not working on anything, just hanging out. He liked working with him too, of course. But moments like this were nice. It was like when he’d stay at the Tower over the weekend and they’d watch a movie on the couch. Times like this where Tony felt less like Mr. Tony Stark aka </span>
  <em>
    <span>the</span>
  </em>
  <span> Iron Man, and more like… something more </span>
  <em>
    <span>familial</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Something like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter knew the exact word he was looking for, but he felt embarrassed to think of it, even if it was just in his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a lull in their conversation. It was getting dark outside. Peter was halfway through his second burger. They were on their second order of fries. An Ella Fitzgerald song played through the busted-up speakers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You called me your kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” Tony looked up from his food. “What was that, Pete?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To the waiter,” Peter explained. “You told him… I was your kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony shrugged. “Well, you are, aren’tcha? You’re a kid, and you spend half of each week at my house. I think that makes you mine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter looked down at his plate and smiled to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unless you don’t want me to call you that.” Tony suddenly backtracked. “I was joking anyway. It wasn’t like I was serious-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, it’s okay, Mr. Stark!” Peter interrupted him. He took another bite of his cheeseburger. “I, um… I don’t mind being your kid. Kinda honored, honestly.” He took a sip of his egg cream through its red-and-white striped straw. He then laughed shyly, “I mean, you’re basically… You’re basically my dad anyway, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony blinked as his eyes widened just a bit. Then he laughed, too. “Perhaps, kiddo. Perhaps.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now that the conversation wasn’t awkward between them, Peter felt more comfortable. “You totally are! You ask me about school, you help me with my homework, you do all those things that a good dad does.” Peter continued to eat his burger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony just stared at him, beaming. “You think so?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, duh,” Peter said, his mouth slightly full.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s fond look at him turned into laughs again. “Well, then as your father, I’m telling you now to not talk with your mouth full, young man.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter laughed too and covered his mouth. “Sorry, Mr. Stark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony continued to look at him with a fond smile, but Peter didn’t notice. He was busy eating his last bit of burger and drinking the last of his egg cream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tony.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” Peter looked up at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to call me Mr. Stark, kid,” Tony clarified. “You can just call me Tony if you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s eyes lit up. “Okay, Tony.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After Tony paid the check, Happy was waiting outside in a black Audi. They climbed into the back seat and drove back to the Tower, where Peter was sleeping over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Peter went to his room that night, Tony hugged him and told him, “I’m so proud to call you my kid, Peter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A grin split across Peter’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he went to bed, he wasn’t embarrassed to think of Tony as his father anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, in the present, Peter was crying on top of a street lamp and Tony Stark was dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His brain could barely wrap around the concept of it. Tony had snapped Thanos’s army away a whole year ago, and Peter still wasn’t used to the fact that Tony was dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his tears had subsided to a manageable degree, Peter hopped down from the street lamp and entered the diner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The floor was still its classic checkered pattern. The booths were still red. Since it was so late, there were barely any customers there, just like when Peter had gone with Tony all those years ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The speakers had been replaced. Instead of the fuzzy sound Peter remembered, Ella Fitzgerald’s voice rang throughout the restaurant perfect and clear. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I guess something had to change,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Peter thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The tourists tire you out?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter blinked the redness out of his eyes and looked towards the voice. It was the same waiter that had served him and Tony. He looked older - he must not have blipped - but Peter clearly recognised him as the same waiter. Peter tried to understand his question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, right. He was in his Spider-Man suit - with his mask off. Peter had been so overwhelmed with emotion that he hadn’t even thought about that. Luckily, the waiter mistook Peter as one of those guys in Times Square that dressed up as Spider-Man or Elsa or Mickey Mouse and took pictures with tourists, and didn’t think he was the actual Spider-Man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He must not have recognised Peter from when he came here with Tony. That was 6 years ago, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, yeah. Yeah, exactly,” Peter said, making sure his voice didn’t sound too broken. He sat down at the same both he and Tony sat at. He sat in his same seat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waiter came up to him. “What would you like tonight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A cheeseburger, please,” Peter said. “And fries. And an egg cream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coming right up.” The waiter walked towards the kitchen, shouting his code for the order at the chefs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter waited for his food. A Frank Sintra song played on the radio now, clear as day. It was the song ‘My Way’, Peter recognised. He listened to the lyrics.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“…I faced it all, and I stood tall, and did it my way…”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You sure did, Tony,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Peter thought to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was brought back to reality by the sound of his plate of food hitting the table in front of him. “There you go,” the waiter said to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. “Th-Thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waiter stared at him. “Hey, wait a second. I know you. You look familiar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter just looked down at his food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The waiter snapped his fingers. “That’s it! You’re the kid! You’re Tony Stark’s kid!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sniffed. “Yeah, that’s me.” He took a sip of his egg cream through its striped straw. “I’m Tony’s kid.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the whump! Tony won’t be dead in the next one I swear lol. The next chapters will hopefully be coming very soon. I’m busy with college work, but I also like to procrastinate said college work by writing fanfiction lol. Leave kudos and comments if you liked this! Thank you for reading!!</p><p>(I’m also planning out and working on a very special Irondad Spiderson multi-chapter fic that will come out soon. It takes place in a unique AU that I'm very excited to share, so stay tuned for that as well!)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Fever</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The rest of the chapters probably won’t be as long as that last one sorry lol. They won’t be <i>too</i> short though, so don’t worry. I tend to write long stuff usually lol I can't help myself. Hope you enjoy this chapter!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If you asked Peter, he would swear he was okay. Sure, he felt hot and cold at the same time. Sure, he felt a bit dizzy. But his spider powers would occasionally spike up and make him feel weird like this. This was nothing new. He just had to ride it out. It was fine. It wasn’t like he was sick or anything.</p><p>He didn’t want to admit he wasn’t feeling well because then he wouldn’t get to go see Mr. Stark today. After the whole Vulture situation, Tony started to invite Peter over to the Tower after school sometimes. They work on their suits together and Tony would teach him how to build the more complex parts of them. Every afternoon he spent there was the greatest of his life.</p><p>He felt so lucky that he became Spider-Man, because Peter knew for sure that if he hadn’t, then Tony wouldn’t care about him at all. He just liked Peter because he was Spider-Man.</p><p>So yeah, he <em> really </em> wanted to upgrade his suit with Tony today, and he wasn’t gonna let some dumb fever ruin that for him.</p><p>Until he passed out in calc class. That was probably bad, wasn’t it?</p><p>When he came to, he was lying in a bed and he heard a voice to his right. He couldn’t recognize it. His brain felt like static. He couldn’t fully understand everything his senses were telling him. He slowly tried to open his eyes. The world looked too bright and he felt like he was spinning.</p><p>He began to comprehend what the unknown voice next to him was saying.</p><p>“-And thanks for calling me, May. … No, it was no problem! I was happy to pick him up. I understand you’re busy. I’m always happy to help Peter. … Yeah, he’s gonna be fine, don’t worry. … Alright, I’ll talk to you later.”</p><p>The man ended the call - the man that Peter still couldn’t match a name to. It was on the tip of his tongue. He tried to think clearly through his swirling thoughts. Let’s see - the man’s voice was very calming, and he was talking to May on the phone. May was his aunt, he knew.</p><p>In Peter’s blurry, too-bright vision, he saw the man turn to him. “Oh Pete, you’ve woken up.”</p><p>Something in Peter’s brain clicked. He knew a man that used to call him ‘Pete’.</p><p>“Ben?” He rasped out.</p><p>The man beside him didn’t respond.</p><p>“Ben?” Peter repeated. His voice slurred. “Is ‘at you?”</p><p>The man sat at the foot of Peter’s bed. “No, Pete. It’s Tony. It’s Mr. Stark.”</p><p>Peter blinked slowly. Then he giggled like he was drunk. “You’re funny, Ben.”</p><p>He heard the man sigh. “Peter, your fever is making you delirious. Try and go back to sleep.”</p><p>“I don’ wanna sleep,” Peter slurred out.</p><p>“Try.”</p><p>“C’mon, Uncle Ben! I don’ wanna!”</p><p>The man sighed again. “I’m Tony, kiddo. I’m sorry, but I’m not Ben.”</p><p>“Yeah, ya are,” Peter shifted around in his bed, trying to find a place that was colder and not covered in sweat. “You’re Ben. You’re not Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark wouldn’t be here.”</p><p>The man took a moment to respond to that. “What do mean?”</p><p>“You know,” Peter rubbed his eyes. “Mr. Stark doesn’t care about me. He just cares about Spider-Man.”</p><p>With his poor vision, Peter saw the man sit up straighter at the foot of his bed. “That’s not true. I care about you a lot, Peter.”</p><p>“Well yeah, I know <em> that </em>, Ben. O’ course ya do.” Peter giggled to himself again.</p><p>Meanwhile, Tony was silently freaking out inside his brain. Did Peter really think that? Or was his fever clouding his judgement? What would make Peter think that anyway?</p><p>Suddenly, Peter’s giggles became whines of pain. Tony snapped to attention. “Peter? You okay?”</p><p>Peter whimpered some more. “My head… It r’lly ‘urts…”</p><p>“Hey,” Tony's voice was very soft. He scooted closer to Peter. “It’s gonna be alright. Go back to sleep, kiddo.”</p><p>“Ben,” Peter sounded so <em> weak </em>. “Ben, please, it ‘urts.”</p><p>“I’m right here, Peter, it’s okay,” Tony finally gave in. “I’m right here, buddy. It’s okay. You’re gonna be just fine.” He ran his hand through Peter’s curly hair. “Go to sleep, kid. You’ll feel all better when you wake up.”</p><p>Peter lazily grabbed onto Tony’s hand, then fell asleep.</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>When Peter woke up again, he felt much better, and his thoughts were <em> much </em> clearer.</p><p>He looked around the room, and was surprised to see he was in the medbay wing of Avengers Tower. The last thing he remembered was being at school, trying his best to get through his classes without dying.</p><p>He looked over to the visitor’s couch beside his bed and saw Tony, wearing sweatpants and a Black Sabbath t-shirt.</p><p>“M-Mr. Stark?” Peter’s throat felt so dry.</p><p>Tony shot up in his seat at the sound of his name. He walked over to Peter’s bedside, consern all over his face. “Hey kiddo. You feeling better?”</p><p>“Um, yeah,” Peter rubbed his forehead. “I think so.”</p><p>“Well you’re not slurring your words anymore, so you must be doing better.”</p><p>“When was I slurring my words?”</p><p>Tony blinked. “Don’t you remember waking up before?”</p><p>Peter shook his head.</p><p>“You were all delirious because you had an 103 degree fever. You’re lucky you’re Spider-Man. Without that super-healing of yours, this fever could’ve hurt you much more.”</p><p>Peter looked away, embarrassed. He was looking forward to seeing Tony today so they could build stuff in the lab. Instead, Tony was seeing him for the dumb kid he really was. “How did I even get here?” He asked finally.</p><p>“You’re school called your aunt and told her that you passed out in class. She was swamped with super important meetings all day so she called me and asked if I could pick you up. I said of course I would.”</p><p>Peter’s eyes went wide. “Y-You didn’t have to do that. I’m sorry if I bother you, Mr-”</p><p>“It wasn’t any bother at all,” Tony said, his eyes very serious. He thought back to what Peter said in his delirious state. He took Peter’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “I care about you a lot, kiddo. If you need me, I’ll come help you, okay?”</p><p>Peter blinked. He didn’t expect that. “I… okay, yeah.” He smiled and squeezed Tony’s hand back. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I personally love whump better when there's comfort afterward. Hope you liked this chapter! Leave kudos and comments if you did! New chapters coming soon! I wanna try and post two chapters a day so I can catch up to the newer prompts but with so much homework I dunno if I'll actually be able to do that lol. I'll try though.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Living Nightmare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one’s a little bit darker than the previous ones lol. Tw for mentions of kidnapping and torture. There’s comfort at the end though. Also this one’s short sorry. Enjoy the whump!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After they rescued Peter, he wasn’t the same.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter had been kidnapped and was missing for 2 months and 18 days. And for 2 months and 18 days, Tony and the other Avengers worked for days on end to find him. Tony could barely ever sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They finally found him in a small, cold, dark room in Quentin Beck’s house. Peter was unconscious and covered in bruises. Aftering killing Beck, Tony held Peter during the whole ride on the Quinjet back to the Compound, where Peter would stay while he healed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>FRIDAY alerted Tony the next day that his kid was finally awake. Tony ran down the hall to his room to see him. He knocked on the door. When he was met with no response, he opened it very slowly and carefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He poked his head inside, a warm smile on his face - so </span>
  <em>
    <span>relieved</span>
  </em>
  <span> that his kid was safely back at home. “Hey, kiddo. How you feeling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter stared at him. He scooted backwards until his back hit his bed’s headboard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, buddy. That man’s not gonna hurt you anymore. I saw to that myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter still didn’t answer him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony squinted. He took a step into Peter’s room. “Pete-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter made a little high-pitched noise in fear and hugged his knees into his chest. “Please,” he whispered, so small and weak, “Please, Beck. Not this again. Not this again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It broke Tony’s heart. “No, Pete, it’s me. It’s Tony-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sniffed back a sob. “Stop it, Beck. Please-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Peter</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Tony’s face was now very serious. He walked a bit closer, “I swear it’s me! What did this guy </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span>-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please! Please, oh my god, stop!” Peter whimpered as tears began to run down his face. “Please, I swear, I’ll be good this time, ok? I swear! Just- Please, Beck, don’t pretend to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>him!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Please, out of all people…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter trailed off as uncontrollable sobs consumed him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony froze, just a few feet from Peter’s bed. He crouched down so he was at Peter’s eye level. “Peter, it’s okay,” he said very softly, “It’s me. Beck is dead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter continued to stare at Tony, his sobs subsiding just a little. “I-If you’re really M-Mr. Stark, tell me something only he’d know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Tony’s made sure his voice was very even and calm and didn’t have any hint of the fear that was racing through his brain. “Let me see… Last summer, you tried to learn how to skateboard. I asked you why would you need to if you could just swing around with your webs which is way cooler, and you told me that it wasn’t the same and you wanted to do cool tricks. Then you kept trying to do an ollie for days and couldn’t get it so you got really frustrated, so I invited you into the lab and we turned your skateboard into a hoverboard. Remember that? That was really fun, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s lip quivered. “M-Mr. Stark?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony let out a shaky, relieved breath. “Yes, buddy, I’m here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter hestated, then spoke again, “Lemme see your hand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My hand?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Come over here,” Peter held his own hand out. “Beck could only make visual and auditory illusions with his tech, but they weren’t physical. I could never touch them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright,” Tony carefully started to approach Peter’s bed again. He held his hand out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter reached forward, then paused just an inch away. His fingers trembled. His breaths quickened slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay kiddo. It’s me,” Tony said quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter looked at him, then closed his eyes and quickly moved his hand forward.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt Tony’s palm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s eyes snapped open as he burst into tears again. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Mr. Stark,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he sounded so relieved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Pete, it’s me. It’s really me,” tears pricked Tony’s own eyes now. “Can I give you a hug now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter nodded and Tony rushed to sit next to him. He wrapped Peter in his arms and Peter burrowed his face in Tony’s neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it, honey. You’re okay. You’re safe now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I’m home?” Peter whimpered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, you are. I swear it,” Tony hugged Peter tighter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter hugged back just as tight. “I missed you. I missed you so much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I missed you too, kiddo.” Tony ran his hand through Peter’s curly hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter savored the touch. A </span>
  <em>
    <span>soft</span>
  </em>
  <span> touch, a touch that didn’t hurt him. He hadn’t felt that in a while. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you at first.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t say sorry, kiddo. It’s okay. I understand,” Tony continued to card his hand through Peter’s hair. “God, my boy. My precious boy, I’m so happy you’re home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sniffed. “I’m happy, too.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I tried to make this darker but I couldn’t resist comforting irondad snuggles. Hope you enjoyed it! Leave kudos and comments if you did! I always love your comments! Also sorry this one’s so short. I feel like a lot of these one shots will be short cuz I have work to do but whatever lol this is just a writing practice exercise anyway. Not all of them will be short at least. Anyway thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Red Stains</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one’s longer yay!! In this chapter, Peter is transgender ftm. I am also trans ftm and some of the descriptions of dysphoria in this chapter I’m taking directly from personal experience lol. So yeah there’s quite a bit of gender dysphoria in this chapter, so if that can be triggering to you, stay safe &lt;3</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>AU: Transgender FTM Peter Parker</b>
  </i>
  <br/>
  <b>!!!Chapter Warning: Gender Dysphoria</b>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Out of all the days, why did it have to be <em> today? </em></p><p>Everything seemed normal when he walked into Tony’s lab that day. He was feeling fine, he and Tony worked on their suits together, they talked, they cracked jokes - overall, everything was going great.</p><p>Then Peter excused himself to go to the bathroom. He looked down at his RodeoH brand boxers and saw blood.</p><p>He’d gotten his period.</p><p>And the worst thing was that he knew he didn’t have any pads in his bag.</p><p>He sighed and put his head in his hands because of <em> course </em> this had to happen <em> today </em>, when Peter would be sleeping over at the Compound. He’d get blood all over his nice bed that Mr. Stark had bought for his own room here at the Compound.</p><p>Unless… Unless he could look around for something. Pepper, Natasha, and Wanda all lived here too, after all. He had to be able to find something here.</p><p>Because it wasn’t like he could ask Tony for help. Tony didn’t even <em> know </em> Peter was transgender! Sure, he hadn’t taken hormone therapy yet, but he passed really well. Tony thought of him like he was any other boy. He couldn’t tell Tony he was trans. What if… What if he stopped inviting him over because of it?</p><p>When Peter walked back into the lab, he made a beeline for the exit. “Hey, Mr Stark? I just gotta get something from my room real quick.”</p><p>“Sure, kiddo. Don’t be long now,” Tony said, not looking up from the deconstructed Iron Man suit in front of him.</p><p>“I won’t!” Peter called to him before shutting the door.</p><p>He didn’t go to his room. He knew there weren’t pads there. He cursed himself for not thinking in advance about this situation. It was bound to happen.</p><p>He went to Wanda’s room first. He felt so bad opening the door and searching through every drawer he could open, but he had to do this. It was an emergency. He couldn’t have anyone finding out he was trans.</p><p>He couldn’t find anything helpful. Not even in Wanda’s personal bathroom. He knew he was bad at finding things but this was <em> ridiculous </em>.</p><p>He moved on to Natasha’s room next. He was way more nervous as he looked through Nat’s things, because she would absolutely kick his ass if she caught him in here. Wanda would’ve too if she’d caught him, but he hadn’t been thinking about that before. But now he was super paranoid about being found and <em> couldn’t </em> stop thinking about getting caught.</p><p>Maybe it was his anxiety distracting him, or maybe it was because he looked through Nat’s room faster than Wanda’s, but he still couldn’t find a single tampon or pad.</p><p>Peter hesitated in front of the next door he approached, because it wasn’t just Pepper’s room he was about to enter - it was Tony’s room, too. If Pepper caught him in here, he’d be <em> super </em> embarrassed. But if <em> Tony </em> caught him in here? Forget it. He’d never want to show his face around the Compound again.</p><p>He pushed open the door.</p><p>He took one look inside and shut the door again.</p><p>Yeah, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t rifle through Tony and Pepper’s stuff. That was too weird - even in an emergency like this. That would be like looking through your parents’ bedside drawers. What if he found something he shouldn’t see? Yeah, he wasn’t going in there.</p><p>Peter instead went to his room, because maybe there <em> were </em> pads in there and he just forgot he hid them some there. He looked everywhere - seriously, <em> everywhere </em>, since he wasn’t worried someone would walk in on him anymore. But even after tearing his room apart, he still couldn’t find anything.</p><p>Peter briefly contemplated if getting a huge blood stain on his bed overnight was <em> so </em> bad. He could just lie and say he snuck out during the night and got stabbed on patrol or something. And when Tony asked to see the stab wound, Peter could say it healed over already because of his super healing. Sure, Tony might be suspicious because a stab wound wouldn’t usually heal <em> that </em> fast, even for Peter, but it was better than coming out to Tony as transgender went he didn’t know how Tony would react.</p><p>Peter was about to go with that plan and go back to the lab when he caught himself in the full length mirror in his room.</p><p>Usually his dysphoria wasn’t so bad. It had its high points and low points, but on the day to day basis, it usually just felt <em> weird </em> looking in the mirror. He didn’t <em> hate </em> it, he just didn’t really <em> like </em> it either. But Peter could live with that, honestly. He could live with that until he went on testosterone. He passed pretty well already anyway.</p><p>But he was already thinking about his… <em> period </em> , which he hated to think about because it multiplied his dysphoria by a million. So when he looked in the mirror then, all Peter saw was everything he was insecure about - his short stature, his small hands, his slim shoulders, his rounded jaw, his <em> hips </em> - god, his hips looked curvier than usual today. They looked so feminine that he had to look away from the mirror, but the damage was already done. Now he was self-aware. His insecurities burrowed deep in his brain.</p><p>Peter wouldn’t have usually burst into tears about his sort of thing, but he was already so stressed out about not being able to find a pad that he just got overwhelmed. Without his permission, tears started to fall down his cheeks.</p><p>“Fucking goddamnit,” Peter cursed under his breath. He hated to cry. Crying just made his dysphoria worse because of the whole ‘boys don’t cry’ saying. And sure, Peter knew that saying was bullshit and that boys could cry all they wanted. He knew crying was good and healthy. But the dysphoria-inducing part of his brain didn’t care about all that logical thinking.</p><p>Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. “Peter?” Mr. Stark’s voice came from behind it. “You good?”</p><p>“Y-Yeah!” Peter called to him and quickly wiped away his tears. “I’m fine! Sorry, I just… I-I can’t find the thing I said I was gonna get.”</p><p>“Can I come in?”</p><p>“N-No, it’s okay! I’ll be right out.” But in all honesty, Peter didn’t want to leave his room. He didn’t want to be looked at. He didn’t want anyone to see how feminine he looked.</p><p>“Peter, I know something’s wrong, okay? When you were taking so long, I asked FRIDAY where you were and she told me you were crying in your room.”</p><p>Peter sniffed. <em> Oh </em>, he thought.</p><p>“So… can I come in?”</p><p>Peter hesitated. “...Okay.”</p><p> The door creaked open and Tony entered. Peter immediately turned away from the door and looked at the ground.</p><p>Tony walked over to him. “Hey, buddy. What’s wrong?” He put a hand on Peter’s shoulder, but Peter shrunk back from it. “Hey, it’s okay. You can tell me.”</p><p>Peter sniffed and wiped his eyes. He kept looking down at the ground. “It’s nothing. It’s stupid.”</p><p>“It can’t be that stupid if it’s making you cry,” Tony said, his voice calm and soothing. “Come on, kiddo. Really, you can tell me.”</p><p>Peter shifted on his feet. He didn’t want to say. <em> God </em>, he was really scared to say.</p><p>“I…” Peter finally decided to answer, “I… I need a tampon.” His face immediately went red because holy shit this was so embarrassing. He buried his face in his hands to hide.</p><p>He didn’t see Tony’s expression go from concern to complete and utter confusion. “You… <em> what </em>?”</p><p>“I’m transgender!” Peter finally just shouted. He needed to rip off the band-aid. “I’m transgender and I’m on my period and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before but I didn’t want to get my bedsheet dirty tonight so I tried to find -”</p><p>“Woah, woah, hey kiddo. Slow down. Breathe,” Tony put his hand on Peter’s back. “Breathe.”</p><p>Peter took a deep breath. Then another. Finally, he gained the smallest amount of courage and looked up at Mr. Stark.</p><p>Tony’s face was wearing a lopsided grin. He took his hand off Peter’s back and instead cupped the side of his face. “You’re a ridiculous boy, you know that?”</p><p>“W-Wha…” Peter eyebrows furrowed. He was so scared Tony was gonna hate him for being trans, but he’d just called him ‘boy’…</p><p>“You could’ve just asked me, Pete,” Tony continued. “I’ll go ask Pepper for one. It's not that big a deal.”</p><p>“But… But…” Peter eyes flicked around, his brain trying to make sense as to why Tony was being so <em> nice </em>. “But I’m trans! And you didn’t know!”</p><p>“Well, sure,” Tony admitted. “I didn’t know that. And I <em> am </em> surprised. But I’m not <em> mad </em> or anything. You could’ve told me you were trans before, you know. Were you scared I was gonna look at you differently?”</p><p>“Yeah! I was! I…” Peter sniffed, “I was scared you weren’t gonna wanna see me again.”</p><p>“Oh Pete, I would never,” Tony put his hand on Peter’s shoulder again, giving it a little squeeze. “If you identify as male, then you’re male. Easy as that. Trans or not, you’re still my boy.”</p><p>Peter looked at Tony, eyes wide. All the tension in his body immediately relaxed. Tony felt it under his grip on Peter’s shoulder and smiled.</p><p>“You… You really mean that?” Peter murmured.</p><p>“Of course, buddy,” Tony hugged Peter. “You’ll always be my boy.”</p><p>Peter almost started crying again - happy tears this time. He wipes his eyes just to be sure. “Th-Thanks, Mr. Stark. I… Sorry, that was just really scary and I-”</p><p>“I understand,” Tony cut off his nervous rambling. “I’m sorry you had to come out to me before you were ready.”</p><p>“No, it’s… it’s okay. I don’t think I would’ve <em> ever </em> been ready. I’m glad that… it’s over now.”</p><p>Tony smiled. “Good. Now let's go steal what you need from Pepper.”</p><p>Peter laughed nervously and looked at the ground. “R-Right, yeah.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Transgender ftm Peter is my favorite headcanon. I should honestly write a whole multi-chapter fic of trans Peter to vent all my dysphoria through lol. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! I love your kudos and comments! I’m doing good with this whole 2 chapters a day schedule to catch up so hopefully I can keep it up tomorrow lol. Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Intruder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was gonna write about Peter feeling like an intruder in Tony’s life once Morgan was born but some people already did that so I came up with this instead lol. Hope you enjoy it! This chapter’s kinda long and with a lot of angst yay!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter didn’t know why Tony agreed to let those <em> traitors </em> back into the Compound.</p><p>Tony told him that he and Steve had talked it out and apologized but Peter didn’t care. Tony may have forgiven Steve, but Peter sure hadn’t. Tony’s injuries that he got in his battle with Steve and Bucky in Siberia might’ve healed. But for Peter, seeing Tony - the man that he thought of like a father - lying in his bed in the medbay, bruised and broken at the hands of his own friend - those memories would haunt Peter forever.</p><p>Peter usually went to the Compound after school on Friday, stayed over on Saturday, and went back home Sunday. Happy would pick him up and drive him home.</p><p>This Friday, Peter walked outside to see Tony Stark parked outside his school, sitting in a red Audi convertible. Students were screaming and pointing at him. Tony waved to his fans.</p><p>And while Peter was happy to see Tony, he wasn’t so excited to go to the Compound today.</p><p>He didn’t want to see Captain America and his friends.</p><p>Peter walked over to the Audi and hopped inside - much to the surprise of every student around him. “Hey Mr. Stark.”</p><p>“Hey kid!” Tony greeted him, and Peter could tell he was trying to cheer Peter up. He drove off into the traffic. “I’ve been thinking of a new module to add to your suit.”</p><p>“Mhm.” Peter leaned against the car door and stared ahead as the car zoomed down the street.</p><p>“Don’t you wanna hear about it?”</p><p>“Sure, I guess.”</p><p>“Listen, Pete. I know you’re upset that the Avengers are back-”</p><p>“They’re not the Avengers. They’re the Rogues. They betrayed the Avengers.”</p><p>Tony sighed. “Come on, Peter. We’re trying to work things out. They’ve been pardoned, and with Ross gone, we’re under a better deal than the Accords now. The world needs the Avengers, so we’re trying to become them again, okay?”</p><p>“You don’t need to try to. You’ve always been an Avenger,” Peter crossed his arms. “They’re the ones that need to try.”</p><p>Tony gave Peter a weak smile. “While I appreciate the compliment, I’d <em> really </em> appreciate it if you tried to play nice with Steve and the others, okay? You’ll barely even see them anyway since we spend most of our time in the lab. You’ll just have to see them at mealtimes. You don’t have to forgive them yet, just… be nice.”</p><p>“How can <em> you </em> forgive them?” Peter asked, his words harsh. “Cap almost <em> killed </em> you! Did he know that you no longer needed your Arc Reactor to survive? Or when he broke it, was he hoping he’d murder you?!”</p><p>“Peter-”</p><p>“And that doesn’t matter anyway, cuz he was punching you with his maximum superhuman strength! In the <em> face </em> ! That <em> alone </em> could’ve killed you! You still get nightmares about it! I don’t understand how-”</p><p>“Peter, that’s <em> enough </em> ,” Tony’s voice went very strict, reminiscent of the scolding he gave Peter after the ferry incident. “You’ll be nice to the Avengers when we get to the Compound and that is the <em> final </em> decision.”</p><p>“They hurt you.”</p><p>“But they didn’t hurt <em> you </em> , okay?” When Tony saw Peter open his mouth to retort, he quickly kept speaking, “ <em> Physically </em>, I mean. For once in your life, Peter, be a little selfish and don’t worry about me, okay? Please?”</p><p>Peter didn’t respond right away. He leaned his elbows against the edge of the car door and felt the wind in his hair. “I’ll try.”</p><p>“You’ll do more than try. You <em> will </em>.”</p><p>Peter hesitated again. He contemplated asking if that was a Star Wars reference, but decided to not say something so lighthearted when he was in this angsty mood. When he finally answered, his voice was very quiet. “…Alright. Fine.”</p><p>“That’s a good boy,” Tony said. “Now don’t look so glum. Lemme tell you about what I’m planning for your Spidey-suit.”</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>Peter said he’d be nice.</p><p>He was really, <em> really </em> trying.</p><p>When he and Tony arrived at the Compound and walked into the living room, all of the Rogues were there. They were just casually sitting around, laughing and talking with each other like everything was <em> fine </em> . Like everything was <em> normal </em> . Steve wore a big smile on his face like he <em> hadn’t </em> tried to bash Tony’s face in a year ago.</p><p>The Avengers turned to Peter and Tony as they spotted them enter. They’re faces lit up at the sight of Peter. They were clearly excited to meet him.</p><p>Peter did not return the sentiment.</p><p>“Everyone, this is Peter, my personal intern. He’s also Spider-Man.” Tony put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Peter, this is… well, you know everyone here, don’t you?”</p><p>Peter gave a fake smile. “Yeah, I do. Haha…”</p><p>All the Ex-Avengers got up off the couches and walked over to greet Peter. They each shook his hand. If Peter was honest with himself, he wasn’t mad at <em> all </em> of them. Bucky was brainwashed, Sam was just supporting his friends, Natasha wasn’t able to stay on a side fully because she didn’t want her family to fall apart, etc. He didn’t quite forgive them yet, but he could see himself forgiving them later.</p><p>When Cap approached him, Peter thought to himself that he didn't know if he’d ever forgive him for what he did to Tony.</p><p>“Hello, son,” Steve greeted him and held his hand out to shake. He smiled wide. “Nice to finally get to meet you. Tony’s told us a lot about you.”</p><p>Peter glanced at Tony, who was giving him a stern look, like he was telepathically trying to tell him, <em> ‘behave.’ </em></p><p>Peter turned to Steve and gave him the fakest smile he could muster. He took Steve’s hand and shook his, using his super-strength to squeeze tight. “Don’t call me son. And I suppose it’s… <em> nice </em>… to meet you too.”</p><p>Steve blinked at Peter’s bluntness. He eventually pulled his hand away and shook it, rubbing the pain out of it. Peter expected him to get mad at him - <em> wanted </em> him to get mad at him so Peter would have an excuse to argue - but Steve just laughed. “Quite the grip you’ve got there, ey Queens?”</p><p>“Yep,” Peter said, popping the ‘p’. He stared at Cap with intense eye contact. “My spider powers gave me super strength, so I could kick your ass if I wanted to.”</p><p><em> And boy do I want to </em>, Peter didn’t say.</p><p>“Okay, that’s enough chatting,” Tony swooped in before Peter started throwing hands. “Me and Pete are going down to the lab. See you guys at dinner.”</p><p>Peter’s eyes were still locked on Steve as he walked to the elevator door.</p><p>“I don’t know if I can do this,” Peter told Tony once the lab door was shut. “Can’t I just not eat dinner with you guys?”</p><p>“I believe in you, kiddo,” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair. “Besides, you won’t be alone. I’ll be next to you at dinner. Plus Pepper and Rhodey will be there.”</p><p>Peter looked down at the tools on his workbench. “Okay.”</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>Peter couldn’t hold back his emotions any longer once they were halfway through dinner.</p><p>It was a stupid thing that set him off, too. It was clear to everyone that Clint hadn’t forgiven Tony yet - probably since when he was living as a fugitive with the Rogues, he wasn’t able to see his family as much as he’d like. But - Peter thought - that wasn’t Tony’s fault. That was Clint’s own fault. He should’ve just sighed the Accords.</p><p>But anyway, Clint made some dumb offhand comment, but it was the perfect excuse in Peter’s mind for him to finally let his rage out. After all, if Clint was going to openly show his disdain for people at the table, then why should Peter have to hide it?</p><p>They were talking about what the Rogues had been doing while they were on the run. They had a bunch of interesting stories to tell of their adventures, but honestly Peter couldn’t bring himself to care at all. At one point, Tony said something like, “That must’ve been hard for you guys.”</p><p>And Clint responded, “Yeah, it was, Tony. How hard have things been for <em> you </em> ? You know, in your <em> mansion </em> and all.”</p><p>Peter dropped his fork on his plate. The clang it made echoed through the room. All the Avengers looked to him, while Peter’s eyes snapped to Clint.</p><p>“What did you just say?” Peter said, venom in his voice.</p><p>“Peter,” Tony warned. “What did we talk about?”</p><p>Peter ignored him. He just locked eyes with Clint. Clint only looked slightly surprised that the kid who’d been quiet this whole time was now talking to him like this.</p><p>“You have <em> no idea </em> what Mr. Stark has been through while you people were gone,” Peter continued.</p><p>“Peter, <em> don’t </em>-”</p><p>“Oh yeah?” Clint challenged. He gave Peter a taunting smile. “Trust me kid, you there’s a lot to ‘Mr. Stark’ that you don’t know. I’ve known him for years. You’ve known him for barely <em> one </em> year.”</p><p>“I know him better than any of you bastards.”</p><p>“<em> Peter </em> ,” Tony gripped the kid’s shoulder. “ <em> Behave </em> yourself.”</p><p>“He’s been making snarky comments all night!” Peter pushed Tony’s hand away and looked at him instead. “You’re just gonna let him talk to you like that, Mr. Stark?!”</p><p>“Clint is just joking, Pete. Don’t take it so seriously-”</p><p>“Oh, c’mon, Stark,” Clint continued to wear his mocking smile. “The kid’s been obviously holding this in all day. What’s wrong with him letting off a little steam?”</p><p>Tony rolled his eyes. “Clint, don’t encourage him.”</p><p>“Yeah, come on, man,” Natasha elbowed Clint. “Please, can we just… try and have a nice night?”</p><p>“I don’t think the kid’s finished,” Clint leaned forward on the table, looking directly at Peter. “What makes you think you know Stark so well, huh kid? You hold him with such high regard. Do you even <em> know </em> half the terrible shit he’s done?”</p><p>Peter stood up so fast that his chair fell backwards behind him, clattering to the floor. “Mr. Stark has made plenty of mistakes, but he’s <em> learned </em> from them! That’s why he’s better than <em> all </em> of you! Because he actually admits to his mistakes! Unlike you people! You still think you were in the right about the Accords!”</p><p>Tony was fuming beside him. “<em> Peter Benjamin Parker, </em> you sit back down <em> right this instant- </em>”</p><p>“And now you all just think it’s okay to walk back in here like it’s your home!” Peter ignored Tony’s angry tone of voice. “But it’s not! It’s not okay! You don’t belong here! None of you! You’re all intruders! Especially <em> you </em>!” Peter pointed to Steve. “After all you’ve done, you’re lucky I didn’t crush all the bones in your hand when I shook it today.”</p><p>The next thing Peter knew, Tony grabbed tightly onto Peter’s upper arm and started dragging him away into the next room. Peter struggled against his grip, but he didn’t want to use too much of his strength in case he’d accidentally hurt Tony. So Tony successfully dragged him away to the living room.</p><p>“Sit down,” Tony let go and pointed to the couch.</p><p>Peter didn’t move for a moment.</p><p> “<em> Now </em>, Peter.”</p><p> He decided not to argue. He sat down and looked up at Tony, but didn’t meet his eyes.</p><p>“You said you’d be nice,” Tony said.</p><p>“Clint wasn’t being nice. Why should I?”</p><p>“Because you don’t need to stoop to his level, okay? He’ll stop with his comments eventually.”</p><p>“I couldn’t just have him get away with saying those things about you.”</p><p>“I’ve been told much worse, Pete.” A small smile was able to break through Tony’s serious face. “Look, I’m happy that you want to defend me, kiddo. I really am. I’m honored that you care enough about me to do so. But if you really, <em> really </em> want to show that you care about me, then you’ll try to make peace with those guys, okay? I want to get the Avengers back together. I can only do that with our youngest member’s help.”</p><p>“You said I wasn’t an Avenger.”</p><p>“You basically are, kiddo.” Tony stepped forward and sat next to Peter. He ran his hand through Peter’s hair. “Now, we’re gonna stay here for a few minutes and you’re gonna calm down. I’m sure Steve and Nat are telling Clint to calm down, too.”</p><p>“Why would Steve care?” Peter sneered at the mention of the man’s name. “I mean, I get Nat, but why Steve?”</p><p>“Because Steve recognises his mistake,” Tony paraphrased what Peter yelled about in the dining room. “When Steve apologised to me, he said he understands now that he made the wrong decision and he’s sorry. So I forgave him. I hope that one day, you can, too.”</p><p>Peter took a moment to process that information. “…Okay. I’ll <em> try </em>.”</p><p>Tony carded his hand through Peter’s curly hair again, “Attaboy.”</p><p>Peter leaned forward and rested his forehead on Tony’s shoulder. “I just… I don’t like it when they say such hurtful things about you.”</p><p>“Their words don’t hurt me, Peter. It’s okay,” Tony kept combing his fingers through Peter’s curls. “I’ve been through much worse.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just btw, while I am Team Tony personally, I’m not anti-cap or anti-team-cap. I just really like to write about angsty Peter defending his dad. I should honestly write a whole fic about this trope because I love it so much. Leave kudos and comments if you liked this! Your comments give me life!! Thank you so much for reading!</p><p>Also I just reformatted <a href="https://starprincepunk.tumblr.com">my tumblr</a> so now it’s easier to find my Asks! If you wanna send me Irondad &amp; Spiderson writing prompts, feel free too! I’ll try to get to them as soon as I can.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another post-endgame fic, but this time Tony’s alive! However this one’s still really sad oof. Hope you enjoy this whump and angst!</p><p>
  <b>!!!Chapter Warning: SUICIDAL THOUGHTS!!!! PLEASE BE SAFE!!!!</b>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Peter stared at the fireplace in the living room of the Stark Cabin. He should’ve been happier - he knew that. Tony had invited him over, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After Tony wielded the Infinity Gauntlet just a few months ago, he lost his arm. But - with Peter’s help - he built himself a new one. Tony was happier than ever. He’d gotten Peter back. Now his family could feel whole again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, after the defeat of Thanos, Peter was adjusting to living in a world that had gone on for 5 years without him in it. He felt like everyone had moved on from him. Tony had a daughter now. He didn’t have a need for a surrogate-kid anymore. Peter didn’t know why Tony bothered to still invite him over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was the middle of February, which meant it was cold as hell. Snow piled in the driveway outside, but Peter was safe and warm in front of the roaring flames in the fireplace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Morgan had wanted to go play in the snow, so Tony and Pepper took her outside. Peter said he’d stay inside, knowing he didn’t do well in the cold because of his whole Spidey-powers-also-made-me-basically-cold-blooded thing. Plus he didn’t want to get in the way. Tony asked if Peter was sure he didn’t want to join them, but Peter said that yes he absolutely was and that it was okay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After hearing Morgan giggling and Tony laughing outside, Peter decided he wasn’t okay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was selfish, he knew, to want Tony’s attention. But he couldn’t help it. He was jealous of Morgan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t fair to her, he knew. It wasn’t her fault at all. And he tried to be as friendly to her as he could. But every time Peter looked at Morgan, he just couldn’t help but be reminded of all the years he’d been gone - of all the years he’d lost. Tony had replaced him - but it’s not like Peter could be mad about that. Tony had the right to move on with his life. They never expected Peter to come back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes, Peter felt like he shouldn’t have come back. He felt out of place in this future-world. He had </span>
  <em>
    <span>died</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe the dead were meant to stay dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter threw on a light jacket and flung the front door open. He ran out into the freezing cold. His sneakers sunk into the almost knee-deep snow, soaking through to his socks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Morgan was the first to spot him. When she did, a huge smile bloomed on her face. “Petey came outside!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony and Pepper looked over at him. Peter waved meekly. “Hi! I changed my mind. I wanna play in the snow, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony smiled, but then quickly changed to looking concerned. “Pete, is that jacket warm enough for you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m fine,” Peter had finally made his way through the snow and over to the others. “I was just by the fire. It warmed me all up. I’m fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter was not fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was freezing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatcha guys doing?” Peter asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Building a snowman!” Morgan answered excitedly. “Just like Elsa and Ana!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Morgan then returned to rolling up snow for her snowman, and she began to sing a song that Peter didn’t recognise. The lyrics Morgan sang were ‘Into the unknown,’ over and over again, which Peter thought was weird because he didn’t remember that song in Frozen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh right, Frozen 2 had come out while he was dusted. This song must’ve been from that. Just goes to show how many little things he’d missed. And sure, that kind of stuff shouldn’t have mattered, but all those little things piled up in Peter’s mind and really made him feel like he didn’t belong here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What can I do to help?” Peter asked, still managing to sound cheerful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony ignored his question. “You sure you’re not too cold, buddy? You’re shaking-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine, Mr. Stark. Really,” Peter smiled. Maybe if he smiled enough, he would actually feel happy. He wanted to be happy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d decided these were going to be his last moments. He wanted them to be happy. And he wanted them to be with Tony.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony still looked concerned, but didn’t ask again. “Alright. In that case, while Morgan and Pepper roll up snow, how about you and me try to find some rocks to make the eyes and face?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s eyes lit up. “Sure! Yeah! Okay!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew it was selfish. He knew that. But he just wanted to spend time with Tony - without Morgan. He knew he sounded horrible when he said that, but that’s how he felt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Besides, it didn’t matter now anyway. Tony just had to deal with him for this one last time. Then Peter would be out of his life forever. He’d stop being a burden to Tony’s new family and the world would continue to spin without him, just as it had done for years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter and Tony searched at the edge of the yard for rocks that were the perfect size for the snowman’s face. They talked about little things, and they joked and laughed. Peter felt little flowers of happiness budding in his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it was overshadowed by how much of a burden he felt like. Here Tony was, spending time with Peter rather than Morgan, when Peter knew he probably wanted to be with Morgan. Morgan was Tony’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> kid, not like him. He was just an outsider.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter hadn’t been able to feel his fingers or toes in a while, but now that numb feeling was spreading up his arms and legs. He started feeling dizzy, and he knew the time was coming soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He got tired of the frivolous, carefree conversation he was currently having with Tony. He realized there were some things he wanted - no, </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to tell Tony before he was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Mr. Stark?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah kid?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just wanna say, you’ve meant… </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> much to me. Like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> much. During the past few years - well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> past few years, the ones were I was alive - you’ve helped me so much. You were always there for me, and I really appreciated it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony looked at Peter with a little unease in his eyes. “Why’re you using the past tense, buddy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-Oh, did I?” Peter’s voice was starting to slur a little. “Whatever. I just mean that, like, I always kinda thought of you as… as my father. Which is probably weird to you. Sorry. Whatever. I just, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry that I wasn’t good enough, and that…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter slumped forward and fell headfirst into the snow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He heard Tony shout something, but he couldn’t fully understand it. He thought it might’ve been his name. Tony then ran over to him. He lifted Peter out of the snow and sat him up straight. He said more things, but Peter still couldn’t register his words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Through his almost-closed eyes, Peter could see that Tony looked really worried.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He’ll get over it</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Peter thought to himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He’s done it before. He’ll do it again.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Love you, Dad,” Peter whispered, then closed his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Peter’s eyes opened, he was in front of the fireplace again. Inside. He blinked himself awake, taking in his surroundings. His feet had been placed in a bowl of hot water. His body was wrapped in blankets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony was on the couch next to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s memories slowly came back to him. The more he remembered, the more he thought to himself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why am I still here?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He shifted in his seat, the hot water in the bowl splashing around just a bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony instantly looked at him. “Peter? Oh my god, you’re awake.” He let out a shaky breath. “You’re… You’re awake. Okay. Thank god, you’re… you’re okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter just stared at him. “Did you bring me inside?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I… I did. Pete, we’re gonna have to talk about some things.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. I don’t wanna-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter, did you try to freeze yourself to death on purpose?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter just stared at the fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Were you trying to kill yourself, kiddo?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter still didn’t look away from the flames.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Answer me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s Morgan?” Peter retorted, still not looking at Tony. “Shouldn’t you be with her right now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I ran in here with you in my arms as fast as I could. I didn’t even take the time to tell Pepper and Morgan that we went inside. But stop deflecting-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why’d you save me?” Peter asked, his voice threatening to break. “You had your chance to have me out of your life forever. You guys could be a perfect family. Why did you-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>-” Tony took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Buddy, why would I ever want you out of my life?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sniffed. “Cuz… you know… C’mon, don’t make me say it out loud, Mr. Stark. You know what I’m talking about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> don’t, Pete.” Tony scooted closer to him on the couch. “Tell me what’s wrong.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just,” Peter’s voice finally broke. Tears spilled down his face. “You have your perfect family with Pepper and Morgan, and I… I’m just some kid you used to know. When I blipped back, I was just suddenly thrown into your family when you guys didn’t want me. I-I’m a burden to you guys. So I just… thought it’d be better if-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, that’s enough,” Tony’s voice was very serious. He put his hand on Peter’s cheek and made the boy finally look at him. “Peter, I… You have no idea… I don’t even know how to explain how </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span> you are, kiddo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to lie to me. It’s okay, I get it. You moved on from me. You had every right to-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nuh uh, the adult is talking,” Tony said. He took a deep breath. “Peter, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> moved on from you. I spent… I spent </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> mourning you. I never stopped mourning you until the day you came back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To Peter’s horror, he saw tears beginning prick at Tony’s eyes. It was clear he was trying to hold them back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When I invented time travel to bring everyone back, do you think I did it for the sake of the world? You think I did it so Steve could have Bucky back? You think I did so Clint could have his family back? I mean, all those things probably contributed a little, but they were never prominent in my mind. No, Peter, the reason I did all that was to bring </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> back. I did it all for you. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>invented time travel</span>
  </em>
  <span> for you. I…” Tony took another deep breath, refusing to let himself fully cry. “I care about you so much, Peter. I care about you more than you could ever imagine. I love you so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> much. I couldn’t handle losing you once, I would </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> be able to lose you again, not after finally getting you back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter wiped away his seemingly endless tears. “Mr. Stark-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And as for thinking of me as your father?” Tony kept talking. “That’s not weird at all to me, kiddo. Cuz I think of you as my son. I’ve thought of you as my son for </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I told Morgan you were her older brother. To me, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> my son, Peter. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> my son. You’re not a burden to me or my family. You’re an essential part of my family, Peter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So many emotions were inside Peter right now - guilt, regret, embarrassment, but it was all overshadowed by the garden of joy that was absolutely bursting in his chest. “D-Dad…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, kiddo. Come here,” Tony held his arms out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter leaned into them and Tony held him tight, almost afraid to let go. “My son. God, I love you so much, Peter. I can’t lose you again. I really can’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> sorry-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s okay, buddy. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m</span>
  </em>
  <span> the one who should be sorry. I should’ve told you how much you meant to me as soon as you got back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter buried his head into Tony’s chest. “Still, I-I’m sorry that, that I tried to-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh,” Tony shushed him and ran his hand through the kid’s hair. “No more apologising. That moment is over.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They snuggled on the couch for a long time. The glowing flames in the fireplace crackled as they continued to warm Peter up. Peter sobbed hard, letting out all the tears that had been locked inside him for so long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony kept holding him and combing his fingers through his hair. “I love you so much, kiddo,” Tony murmured, his voice low and quiet. “I couldn’t stand to live without you. You’re my son and I </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sniffled, trying to be able to speak clearly again. “I love you too, Dad. I love you so much.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter! I had an idea and I tried to write it. I hope it worked out lol. I deadass listened to Teen Idle by Marina and the Diamonds on repeat for what was probably a bit too long and then wrote this lol. How you enjoyed it! Leave kudos and comments if you did!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Leather Bound Wrists</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Aight guys I know it’s been like 2 weeks since I posted a febuwhump one shot. Sorry lol. School has kept me busy plus I got sick so that didn’t help oof. This is gonna go into March but I really wanna do all the prompts so I’m gonna try to get them done and not worry about upload schedule. Hope you enjoy this chapter! It’s some bio irondad.</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>AU: BioDad Tony Stark</b>
  </i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The funny thing was, this wasn’t even the first time Peter Stark had been kidnapped.</p><p>As the son of a billionaire, many people have tried to use him as ransom against his father, Tony Stark. Luckly, in addition to being a billionaire, his father was also an Avenger, so he always came to rescue him.</p><p>This <em> was </em>, however, the first time Peter had been captured since he’d become Spider-Man.</p><p>He didn’t know what to do. He sat in his dusty cell, barely illuminated only by a small window with bars over it. He’d noticed his cuffs were made of leather - a material he could <em> easily </em> break out of. But if he did that, then his captors would know he wasn’t just a normal kid.</p><p>Should he break out, or should he wait for his dad?</p><p>He decided to wait. There was no reason to reveal his secret identity when he knew Tony had to be on his way soon. He always came. Besides, this was like… the third time he’d been kidnapped in his life. The first time this had happened when he was 6 years old, yeah, <em> that </em> had been absolutely terrifying. But now, it was barely scary anymore. Yeah. And now that he had his super strength up his sleeve to use just in case of an emergency, it was even less scary. He just had to wait it out. He could do this.</p><p>He wasn’t scared. At all. Totally.</p><p>His captors came in later, one of them holding up his phone. It was recording video.</p><p>“-and you see here, Tony Stark,” the captor pointed the camera at Peter. “We have your son. We want the money within 12 hours. If not, your kid gets it.”</p><p>The other captor brandished a knife. He walked up to Peter and pressed it against the boy’s neck - not enough to cut the skin, but heavily implying that this man could do so anytime he wanted. Peter held his breath. He heard his heart beating in his ears.</p><p>He wasn’t scared. He <em> wasn’t </em> scared. After becoming Spider-Man, <em> plenty </em> of scarier things had happened to him - including, but not limited to, almost getting crushed to death by a collapsed building, haphazardly controlling his dad’s jet so it could land on the empty beach instead of killing dozens of people in the center of a busy New York City street, and almost getting torn to shreds by the metal claws of a crazy vulture man. This was nothing. This was just a guy with a knife. Peter dealt with guys like that almost every night. He was fine. Absolutely fine.</p><p>“Peter, don’t worry,” his father’s worried voice came through the phone, and Peter realized his captors weren’t just recording video, but sending it live directly to Tony. Wow, these guys were even stupider than Peter thought. Tony could track that phone so easily now. He’d probably rescue him in like 20 minutes - not that Peter was counting or anything. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you outta there.”</p><p>“I-I’m fine, Dad,” Peter said hoarsely, knife still against his throat. “D-Don’t worry. I know you’ll come get me.”</p><p>“You shut your mouth!” The captor with this knife spat. He pulled the knife away. With his other hand, he clocked Peter across the face. Peter let out a cry, but he exaggerated it so it seemed like he was a weak boy who didn’t have super strength.</p><p>Yep, it was totally exaggerated. It didn’t hurt at all.</p><p>“Peter!” His father shouted through the phone, worry clear in his voice.</p><p>“Your daddy’s not gonna come save you, boy,” the captor continued. “You’re only getting outta here if he pays us the money.”</p><p>“Right, sure,” Peter couldn’t stop the sarcasm from coming out of his mouth. He was too used to making sassy comments as Spider-Man.</p><p>It earned him another punch in the face, this time hitting his jaw more. He let out another whining sound in reaction - an exaggeration, of course. Definitely.</p><p>The captor holding the phone shut it off, having made his point. He grinned cruelly at Peter. Then both of his kidnappers left the cell, locking the heavy door behind them with a loud <em> kachunk </em>.</p><p>Peter’s cheeks stung and his jaw ached, but it was nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. He was fine. Definitely. His dad would be here soon.</p><p>It literally took 15 minutes.</p><p>Peter heard the signature sound of the Iron Man repulsor blast echo somewhere. The blasts kept getting louder, closer, until finally one busted opened the door. The Iron Man suit hovered in the doorway, then sped forward and touched down inside Peter’s cell. The helmet retracted to reveal Tony’s face. “Peter! Are you alright?”</p><p>“Oh, h-hey dad,” Peter said as nonchalant as he could. “Yeah, I-I’m good.”</p><p>“God, I’m so sorry, kiddo.” Tony’s eyes were full of concern. Peter didn’t understand why. This wasn’t that big of a deal. “Here, lemme get you outta those cuffs-”</p><p>“Nah, i-it’s okay. I got it.” Peter ripped his hands through the cuffs. The loud sound of the leather tearing echoed in the chamber. “Th-They didn’t know I had super strength.”</p><p>Tony just stared at Peter, like his brain was trying to fully register that he was in front of him, that he was safe now. Breathing a sigh of relief, he finally stepped out of the Iron Man suit and hugged his son. “You’re okay, <em> bambino </em>. I’m here.”</p><p>“I’m fine, dad!” Peter laughed it off. “I w-wasn’t even scared. I’m <em> Spider-Man </em>! Spider-Man doesn’t get scared of idiots with knives.”</p><p>“Peter,” Tony looked him in the eyes, “you can’t fool me. I know you, son. I hear that small shake in your voice.”</p><p>Peter scoffed. “I-It’s nothing. That’s nothing-”</p><p>“It’s okay if you were scared,” Tony continued, his voice low and warm. “You were <em> kidnapped </em>, Petey. That’s extremely scary. I don’t care if you’re Spider-Man or not.” He squeezed his hug tighter. “But I’m here now. So let’s go home.”</p><p>Peter hesitated, then let himself melt into the hug. He really needed it. “Yeah. Let’s get outta here.”</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>Peter had a nightmare that night.</p><p>He woke up in his bedroom, panting and sweating. His dream had just been a mix of bad memories - the building falling on him, the jet, the Vulture - and, yes, the kidnapping, too. He woke up with a jolt, sitting up straight in his bed, covered in sweat.</p><p>“Peter,” FRIDAY spoke into his room. “You appear to be in distress. Would you like me to call-”</p><p>“Nah, nah, don’t call Dad. It’s fine. It’s okay,” Peter said quickly after getting his bearings. He was in his bed. He wasn’t in some cell. “I’m just… I’m just gonna go to the kitchen. Do we still have that ice cream?”</p><p>“Yes, it’s still in the freezer.”</p><p>“Thanks, FRI.” Peter slipped out of bed. He put his fuzziest socks on and crept out of his room - down the hall and into the kitchen.</p><p>He opened the freezer. It was packed with food, and from just a quick look at the top he couldn’t see the ice cream. He dug around a bit, but didn’t want to offset the carefully stacked containers of food, so he couldn’t dig very deep. He tried carefully shifting everything around, but still no ice cream. Where the hell was it?!</p><p>Peter was so involved with the task at hand that he didn’t even hear the footsteps approaching the kitchen. “Hey kid.”</p><p>“Ah!” Peter jumped. He looked over to see Tony. “H-Hey Dad.”</p><p>“You doing okay?”</p><p>“I told FRIDAY not to wake you up. I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Oh, you didn’t wake me up,” Tony dismissed the comment and walked towards Peter. “I was working on blueprints in bed when suddenly I heard a giant racoon digging around in my kitchen.”</p><p>Peter managed to give him a small smile. “I was, um, looking for the ice cream.”</p><p>Tony looked down at the once organized freezer, now messy and jumbled. He reached down and picked up a tub of Ben and Jerry’s Stark Raving Hazelnuts.</p><p>Peter blinked. “I didn’t see that. I swear that wasn’t there a minute ago.”</p><p>Tony laughed and gave the ice cream to Peter. “Go put on a movie. I’ll get two spoons.”</p><p>“Who says I’m sharing with you?” Peter teased, walking towards the living room.</p><p>“I’m your father which means you have to pay me Parent Tax on all snack foods.”</p><p>“That’s not fair!” Peter laughed. “No, I refuse to pay!”</p><p>“I did not raise my son to commit tax fraud.”</p><p>Peter giggled to himself, now sitting on the couch in the living room. “FRI, can you play the Mandalorian?”</p><p>“Sure thing, Peter,” FRIDAY responded and turned on the TV.</p><p>Tony finally walked into the room and joined Peter on the couch, two spoons in his hand. He handed one to Peter. “There you go, kiddo.”</p><p>“Thanks, Dad.” Peter turned to the ice cream tub in his hands. He took a big scoop and felt it melt in his mouth. “Mm, best flavor.”</p><p>“You bet it is.” Tony ate a scoop of his own.</p><p>“When will they make a flavor for me?”</p><p>“I’ll get the PR team to work on that.”</p><p>Peter grinned and watched the Mandalorian on the TV.</p><p>When they were around 10 minutes in, Tony asked him, “You wanna finally tell me why you’re up so late, buddy?”</p><p>Peter blinked. He’d almost forgotten he even had a nightmare. Ever since his dad had joined him in the kitchen and made him laugh, the anxiety in his mind had gotten less and less. He now felt more comfortable telling Tony about it.</p><p>“Nightmare,” he simply said.</p><p>“I thought you’d get one,” Tony replied. “I mean, after what happened today.”</p><p>“It really wasn’t that big a deal. I wasn’t scared.”</p><p>Tony sighed. He slung his arm around his son’s shoulders. “You know it’s okay to be scared, right?”</p><p>“Yeah, I know. It’s okay to be scared of <em> scary </em> things. I-I’m not scared of some guys with knives. That’s not scary - not to Spider-Man.”</p><p>“It’s okay to be scared of anything, Peter,” Tony said, his voice warm and soft. “And I don’t care if you’re Spider-Man. You’re a kid. Getting captured by strangers is scary.”</p><p>Peter didn’t respond. He just looked at the TV. He’d seen the Mandalorian a million times, so he didn’t mind that they were talking over it.</p><p>Tony squeezed his arm around Peter a bit tighter. “You don’t have to prove anything to me, you know. You being scared isn’t going to make me think of you differently. <em> I </em> was scared, you know. <em> I </em>, Iron Man, was scared. I was scared for my son’s safety.”</p><p>Peter dropped his gaze. He ate another scoop of ice cream. He wanted to stay ‘strong’, but at this point he didn’t even know what that meant anymore. Because maybe Tony was right. Who cares if he had been scared? He’d been scared out of his mind. He knew he’d be alright and that his dad would save him, but he was still scared.</p><p>At this point, he just wanted comfort from his dad. Did that make him weak? Honestly, he didn’t really care anymore.</p><p>He snuggled into Tony’s side. “…Yeah, okay. I was scared,” he said very quietly.</p><p>Tony smiled. He hugged Peter closer, careful not to knock over their ice cream. “That’s okay, Pete. I’ll always be here for you.”</p><p>Peter felt his eyes closing, suddenly very sleepy. “Thanks, Dad.”</p><p>“No problem, kiddo.”</p><p>“I mean it,” Peter struggled to keep his eyes open. “Thank you for rescuing me today. And for helping me find the ice cream. And for making me laugh. And for hugging me and making me feel better. You’re the best, Dad.”</p><p>Peter didn’t see, but Tony was smiling so widely at his words. The corners of Tony’s eyes crinkled with pure happiness. It was times like these when he thought about how scared he was when a baby Peter had been left in his care, all those years ago. He had a <em> child </em>, and now he had to raise him and take care of him. Tony thought he wasn’t fit to do it. He was too scared he’d hurt Peter, like how Howard had hurt him.</p><p>But based on what Peter said, it turns out he did a good job after all.</p><p>“I love you, kid.”</p><p>“I love you too, Dad.”</p><p>Then Peter fell asleep in Tony’s arms, safe and sound.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I didn’t wanna write another kidnapping fic but the prompt really left me with no choice so I did it lmao. Hope you liked it! Leave kudos and comments if you did! Thanks for reading and I love you all 3000!! &lt;3</p><p>Also remember how I said I was starting to write a new Irondad Spiderson fic with a unique AU? I finally published it! The first two chapters are up! It’s an urban fantasy AU where everyone is a dragon rider! <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22584004/chapters/53969995">If you wanna read it, you can find it here!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Dark State of Mind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I need to update this more often lol. Also I lowkey borrowed some plot from my Dungeons and Dragons character’s backstory into this lmaooo enjoy. Warning this one is big sad hours oof</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was always a little part of Peter that thought he was inferior to everyone around him.</p><p>He didn’t know when he started thinking it. He just kind of always did. Maybe it was because he constantly compared himself to everyone else - with their nuclear families and always-smiling faces. Maybe it was because he’d go on Instagram and see everyone getting together with their whole family for the holidays.</p><p>Peter never had any of that. Peter never had a large family. He never had that many people to ‘unconditionally love’ him. He didn’t even have <em> parents </em>. And yes, he had May, and he loved her so much, and he knew she was doing all she could to support him, but sometimes it wasn't enough. And Peter felt extremely guilty for thinking that, since he knew May was doing all that she could. But it wasn’t enough.</p><p>Peter just always felt so <em> alone </em>.</p><p>And now, he started to feel like he <em> deserved </em> it.</p><p>He didn’t know the exact reason why, but that didn’t matter. That’s what his brain chose to believe nowadays. He didn’t deserve the love of an entire family. His parents had died, and then Ben had died. Every chance he had to gain a father figure, it was taken from him. The only conclusion his brain could draw from this was that he didn’t deserve to have one.</p><p>So when Mr. Stark started inviting him to help out in the lab of the recently-bought-back Avengers Tower, Peter was hesitant.</p><p>And at first, he was honored - and internally fanboying. After the whole Vulture incident, Tony seemed to want a more direct hand in mentoring Peter. How cool was that?! He went to the lab, and it was even more awesome than he’d expected. He got to help Tony upgrade his Iron Man suit, and then they worked on his new Spider-Man suit. And Mr. Stark was super nice!</p><p>Since then, Peter would visit Avengers Tower to help Tony in the lab twice a week. This continued for a few months, and Peter never missed a day. It was the happiest he’d been in years.</p><p>The last time he’d gone to visit the Tower, it was on a Friday. Peter and Tony worked all afternoon on their suits. Soon it reached 7pm - when Peter would normally go home. But instead, Tony asked Peter if he wanted to stay over so they could keep working on Saturday. They had a room for him in the Tower and everything.</p><p>“It’ll be fun,” Tony told him. “We can watch a movie, too. I’ll make some popcorn.”</p><p>Peter’s immediate, first thoughts were, <em> ‘yes ohmygosh that would be so awesome I’d love to-’ </em> but then he stopped himself. This wasn’t like working on the suits. This was different. Watching a movie together was no longer mentor-mentee stuff.</p><p>That was something a family would do.</p><p>Peter didn’t deserve any more family.</p><p>“N-No thanks, Mr. Stark,” Peter forced himself to say. “I-I think I should go home. I gotta…  help my Aunt with chores and stuff.”</p><p>Tony stared at him, surprised. Then he let out a laugh. “You’re a good kid, Peter. Sure, okay. Go help your aunt. Happy can drive you home.”</p><p>The next time Tony invited Peter to help out in the lab, Peter said he was busy. He didn’t want Mr. Stark’s kindness. He wasn’t worthy of it.</p><p>The next Friday, Tony called Peter and invited him over again.</p><p>“Thanks for the offer, M-Mr. Stark. Really,” Peter told him over the phone, “But I gotta help my Aunt with something today.”</p><p>“Really? That’s strange,” Tony said in a suspicious tone. “May just texted me to tell me she’d be working late tonight, and that she’d prefer it if you stated over at the Tower tonight so you weren’t home alone.”</p><p><em> I deserve to be home alone </em>, Peter thought to himself, but didn’t dare say it out loud. He didn’t know what to do. May had left him with no choice. “O-Oh, right. Okay, then, I guess I can come over.”</p><p>“Can’t wait to see you, kiddo,” Tony said. Peter could hear the smile in his voice. “Happy will pick you up from school. See you later.”</p><p>“Yeah, see ya.” Peter hung up.</p><p>Half of him was excited, but the other half was disgusted with himself. How dare he use Tony for his attention? He had no right to receive it.</p><p>When Happy picked him up after school, he was quiet the entire ride to the Tower. As he worked with Tony on their suits, he still barely spoke. By the time it was 7pm, Tony knew something was wrong.</p><p>“How about we finish for the day, Pete,” he said carefully. “We can get started on movie night. Anything in particular you wanna watch?”</p><p>Peter flinched when Tony started speaking. He quickly shook his head. “N-No thanks, Mr. Stark. You know, actually, I think I’m just gonna go to bed now.”</p><p>“Kid, it’s 7 o’clock. What kind of teenager goes to bed that early?” Tony laughed a little.</p><p>Peter didn’t laugh back. He felt frozen. He just stayed there, staring at his desk. He didn’t want to move or speak.</p><p>Tony walked over to him. “Come on. It’ll be fun. I’ll even let you watch Star Wars if you want.” He clapped his hand on Peter’s back.</p><p>Peter flinched again. He wanted to watch a movie with Tony so badly. Of course he did. But that little voice in his mind wouldn’t leave him alone - <em> You don’t deserve his attention. You don’t deserve to get close to him. He’ll just get hurt in the end, just like Ben and your parents. </em></p><p>But Tony was expecting Peter to follow him into the living room. He had no choice, so he followed him.</p><p>Tony knew something was up with Peter, but he didn’t want to pressure him to say anything he didn’t want to. He just hoped the kid would feel better after they watched his favorite movie.</p><p>Tony asked FRIDAY to put The Empire Strikes Back on the TV. She did by the time Peter had shuffled his way into the living room. Tony sat on the couch and patted the spot next to him. “C’mon, kiddo. The movie’s about to start.”</p><p>Peter slowly walked over and sat next to Tony. There were snacks on the coffee table, which Peter <em> really </em> wanted - he was always hungry - but his brain told him he wasn’t worthy of any food that Tony gave him.</p><p>Around 20 minutes into the movie, Peter’s brain was entirely focused on his self-destructive thoughts. He hated this. Why couldn’t Tony just leave him alone? Why did Tony have to take an interest in him? Why would he want to be his mentor? Why would <em> anyone </em> want <em> him </em>?</p><p>He felt helpless, and his whole body screamed for comfort. And while Peter knew Tony would probably be happy to supply it, his brain refused to let him ask for it - he didn’t fucking deserve it.</p><p>Then Peter had an idea. Maybe Tony <em> wouldn’t </em> want to comfort Peter. It would make sense - after all, Peter was 15, not a child. When Tony took on the role of his mentor, why would he expect comforting Peter like a baby to be a part of his job? He probably expected Peter to be mature. So Peter made a compromise with himself - he would be allowed to subtly ask for comfort, like he wanted to. In return, there was a big chance that Tony wouldn’t like it, and that Tony would push him away because of it. Then Peter wouldn’t be invited back to the Tower, just like the self-hating part of his brain wanted. It was a little confusing, but it made sense in his anxious state of mind.</p><p>Hesitantly, Peter rested his head on Tony’s shoulder. He braced himself.</p><p>Tony smiled. See, he thought to himself, he knew Peter would feel better after they watched Star Wars. Tony reached his arm around Peter’s shoulders, hugging him into his side.</p><p>Peter blinked.</p><p>That was not the reaction he expected.</p><p>Now Tony was giving him even more affection - affection that, his brain was quick to remind him, he had no right to receive.</p><p>Peter started panicking. He pushed Tony’s arm away from him and slid to the opposite side of the couch. Tony looked over, confused, and saw that Peter was struggling not to cry.</p><p>“Hey,” Tony said softly. He paused the movie. “Peter, what is it? You know, I could tell something’s been up with you lately. What’s wrong?”</p><p>Peter shook his head, desperately trying not to cry. “N-Nothing. I-It’s nothing.”</p><p>“You can tell me Peter,” Tony sounded so sincere. “I’m here for you. I promise.”</p><p>“<em> Why?! </em> ” Peter almost snarled the word, so disgusted with himself for breaking down like this. “Why are you being so <em> nice </em> to me?!”</p><p>“Why? Peter, what are you talking about?” Tony inched closer to Peter just a bit. “You’re an amazing kid. You’re ridiculously intelligent and you have such a good heart. Why wouldn’t I be nice to you?”</p><p>“Because-” Peter’s voice cracked, and he stopped himself from finishing his sentence. He covered his mouth with his hand, then hugged his knees into his chest.</p><p>Tony knew he’d gotten somewhere. “Because <em> what </em>, Peter?” He said very cautiously.</p><p>Peter’s mind was racing. He couldn’t tell Tony. He couldn’t tell him everything going on inside his head. But then again, maybe he should. Yeah, maybe if he told Tony, he’d finally realized that he should stay the hell away from him.</p><p>“B-Because I don’t deserve it,” Peter finally said, his voice shaky and weak. “I-I don’t deserve you.”</p><p>Tony’s face fell. His heart sank in his chest. This… This was worse than he imagined. “Aw, buddy,” he scooted over to Peter again and placed his hand on the back of Peter’s neck. “Why would you think that?”</p><p>And suddenly, the words were pouring out of Peter’s mouth and he wasn’t able to stop them. “I-I don’t deserve a-any of this! N-Not you, not watching this movie, not even w-working with you in the lab! I don’t deserve to be close to any more people! Anytime people get close to me, th-they die! That’s my Parker Luck! My parents, and then Uncle Ben, they died because I didn’t deserve their love! I don’t deserve a family! The same thing is just gonna happen with you and it’ll all be my fault! A-And-”</p><p>“Hey, woah now, kiddo,” Tony adjusted himself so Peter looked him in the eyes, “Breathe, okay? Breathe with me. In and out.”</p><p>Peter reluctantly listened to Tony and took deep breaths with him. It managed to calm him down a little. But now that he wasn’t hysterical, he realized everything he’d just said - everything he’d just revealed to Tony. He’d said too much. He wanted to run away and hide. He kept his eyes trained on the ground.</p><p>Tony noticed this. “Hey,” he said softly, “Look at me. It’s okay.”</p><p>Peter didn’t listen.</p><p>Tony sighed, but continued to speak anyway. “I’m so sorry that the world has treated you so badly, Peter. It’s not fair. But none of it was your fault, I swear. None of it’s your fault. You deserve to be loved, kiddo. I mean it.”</p><p>Peter shook his head. His voice was so broken that he couldn’t speak. Tears ran down his face. A low whine escaped his lips - a cry that he wasn't able to suppress.</p><p>“Shh,” Tony pulled Peter closer to him and rubbed his back. “I mean it,” he said, his voice low and quiet. Peter felt it reverberate in Tony’s chest. “You’re a great kid, Peter. You deserve all the love in the world. And you know me, I don’t throw phrases like that around lightly. You are the best kid I’ve ever met. And the fact that so much tragedy has happened to you already at such a young age, it’s a crime. Really. You don’t deserve all that sadness, kiddo. You <em> do </em> deserve to be loved. You deserve a family. And I know I’m not the best choice, but I hope you’ll let me help you.”</p><p>Peter’s body shook with silent sobs. His negative thoughts were trying to fight back from Tony’s overwhelmingly kind words, but they couldn’t. They were drowned out by Tony’s comforting voice. Peter finally gave up, and let himself cry. He melted into Tony’s embrace.</p><p>Tony carded his hands through Peter’s hair. “It’s okay, <em> bambino </em>. I’m here.”</p><p>“I-I’m s-sorry-”</p><p>“Shh, you don’t need to apologise. It’s okay,” Tony continued to comb his fingers through Peter’s curls. “You’re like a son to me, you know. I’ll always be here for you.”</p><p>Peter choked on a sob. “I d-don’t… I don’t deserve-”</p><p>“You <em> do </em>, Peter. I promise you do,” Tony said. “I love you so much, son. And I promise, you deserve it.”</p><p>Peter kept crying, letting himself be surrounded in Tony’s comforting arms. His negative thoughts tried to return, but they had no power anymore. Peter looked up to Tony too much. If <em> Tony </em> said it, then it had to be true.</p><p>“I love you, too,” Peter managed to say when he could speak clearly again.</p><p>Tony smiled and held Peter tighter. Peter didn’t resist it.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(Imagine how Peter would feel after Endgame OOF-)<br/>Thanks for reading! Hopefully I’ll update soon, maybe one with more comfort at the end.</p><p>This makes me wanna post my Dungeons and Dragons character’s backstory to ao3, since I wrote it in serialized chapter format. Should I do that? My character’s story is heavily inspired by irondad spiderson since I write so much of it lol.</p><p>Edit: I posted it lol. <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23053426/chapters/55136866">Click here if you wanna check out Dungeons and Dragons character’s backstory.</a> There’s a lot of father-son platonic stuff in it so if you like Irondad you might like it too.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Lose You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>WASSUP GUYS IT’S AUGUST 31ST I currently have 3 other WIP fics that I could be working on and classes start in 2 days for me but <i>THIS</i> is what i decided to update skdkhjdfgh anyway I wanna finish this before the end of the year cuz I hate how it’s just sitting unfinished in my works. So let’s see if I can do that! Enjoy some whumpy one shots with these old prompts lmao</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The mission hadn’t gone smoothly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter had been invited to the last few missions that Tony and the Avengers went on, and he was very happy about it. He loved taking on bad guys side by side with his family. The last few missions had gone really well, and Peter was having so much fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Today, when they invaded the Hydra base, it was not fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the beginning, it all seemed fine. They entered the Hydra facility with barely an issue. Then at some point, the Avengers all had to split up. But Tony didn’t want Peter going on his own, so he told him to come with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, Mr. Stark. I’ll be fine!” Peter had said, smiling under his mask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No way, kiddo,” Tony said back, very serious. His voice was quiet, not wanting to alert any Hydra agents that might be sneaking around nearby. “This is the most dangerous mission you’ve been on. You’re coming with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, fine,” Peter acted like he was annoyed, but in reality, he wasn’t. He didn’t mind fighting side by side with Mr. Stark. In fact, he liked it much better than fighting alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they carefully crept through the corridor, they didn’t run into many Hydra agents, and the ones that they did they easily took down together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that’s when the fun ended.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of a sudden, they were swarmed with Hydra. There were probably over thirty of them - maybe even over forty. Taking out so many guys at once was very difficult when you were that outnumbered  - even for superheroes. Tony called for backup through his com, but it would be a while until the rest of the Avengers caught up with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter fought as well as he could - webbing away the complex guns the Hydra assassins carried, maneuvering around them in the right way so they would hit each other rather than him. He was exhausted and almost dizzy from this spidey-sense going off so much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But a cold shiver ran up his spine as his spidey-sense spiked one more time. There was something new - something big.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter turned around and saw a Hydra assassin with a much larger gun than the others. It made a high-pitched whine as it charged up. Inside the barrel began to glow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Stark,</span>
  <em>
    <span> look out!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Peter turned to Tony and screamed at the top of his lungs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Tony wasn’t Peter. He didn’t have inhuman reflexes or reaction time or flexibility. So in the split second between when that assassin fired their crazy, huge gun and when the giant, fireball-looking ammunition zoomed across the room - Tony could do nothing but stand in its path.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter cried out as the flaming bullet - like a meteor headed towards Earth - tore through Tony’s armor like it was made of paper mâché. It melted the titanium-gold alloy in its way and ripped a hole straight through it. Tony barely had the chance to let out a groan of pain before he collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Peter wanted to rush to Tony’s side, but he was still being attacked by the seemingly endless Hydra members. He tried to fight back, but it was hard to see through the tears caught in his eyes. He relied on his spidey-sense to tell him where to hit, and tried not to focus too hard on the fact that his father-figure was probably either already dead or bleeding out on the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All Peter could think was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not again not again not again not again</span>
  </em>
  <span> -</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, someone punched the assassin Peter was fighting so hard that they flew across the room. Peter looked over and tried to blink away his tears so he could see clearer. It was Steve Rogers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter, where’s Tony?” Steve’s voice was full of concern, grabbing another Hydra fighter and slamming them to the ground. Their endless numbers were finally growing less now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s shaking hand pointing over to Tony’s body. “H-Help him, please Cap.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You go over to him,” Steve said. Behind him, Bucky came into Peter’s field of vision, fighting hand-to-hand with some other Hydra assassin. “We’ll take care of these guys. As soon as we’re safe we’ll take him back to the Quinjet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t even spend the time to nod a reply. He ran over to Tony in the crumpled Iron Man suit, kicking away a Hydra agent along the way. Then he collapsed to his knees at Tony’s side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man was still alive, breathing fast and shallow. All the armor on the entire side of his abdomen had been ripped off, and the flesh underneath was a burned and bleeding mess. Peter tried not to look at it. He looked at Tony’s face. The mask of the Iron Man suit had been deactivated, so Peter could see Tony’s expression twisted in pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter took off his mask, and all the tears that had been trapped under it flowed freely into the air. “M-Mr. Stark,” his voice shook. He wanted to wrap his arms around Tony but thought that would probably hurt him. So he just grabbed Tony’s hand. “M-Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark, oh my god…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s eyes blinked, trying to focus. He looked up at Peter. There was a flicker of a smile on his face. “I-I’m fine, kid,” His voice was hoarse. “I-It’s… It’s nothing major. Dr. Cho will fix me up. Don’t worry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter wanted to scream at Tony - to tell him to stop comforting </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> and telling </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> to not worry when </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tony</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the one dying - but only tears and sobs came out. His mind kept flashing back to that day in the alleyway, to Uncle Ben’s body on the ground, blood pooling under him. Peter tried to shake the thoughts away, but he couldn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he spoke again, his voice was high-pitched with fear and overwhelming emotion, “I can’t lose you! I can’t lose you, too! Not you! Please stay with me, Mr. Stark!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony squeezed Peter’s hand, but he felt too weak to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sounds of gunshots and punches from behind them finally stopped, and soon Steve and Bucky were running over. Rhodey had also arrived in the time it took to finish the fight, and he ran over, too. His mask was pulled back into the War Machine suit, and as soon as he got one look at Tony, panic spread across his face. “Tones-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony managed to lift his hand ever so slightly off the ground, waving a couple of his fingers at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pick him up! Come on!” Rhodey was already moving to crouch at Tony’s side as he yelled at Steve and Bucky. “C’mon, we don’t have much time. We have to get him back to the Quinjet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three men were more than enough to pick Tony up in what remained of his Iron Man armor. They rushed to the exit. Peter trailed behind them, feeling useless.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter knew that the adults behind the door forgot that Peter could hear them with his super hearing. They were whispering, but it didn’t matter. Their voices sounded as clear as day to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was in the hallway of the medbay, sitting in a chair right beside Tony’s room, where a few of the other Avengers were inside talking with Dr. Cho. He wanted to go inside too, but they wouldn’t let him yet. Peter tried not to be too angry, but his whole body was shaking with a mix of fury, anxiety, and his racking sobs. He’d already waited for so long during Tony’s surgery. He could barely stand to wait any longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will he make it?” Peter heard Rhodey ask Dr. Cho, voice only slightly muffled by the wall separating them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’ll be fine,” Dr. Cho responded. “It’s just going to take a while.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When will he wake up?” That was Pepper’s voice. She sounded like she had been crying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hopefully in a few days,” Cho said. “But maybe longer. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span> wake up though. I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter heard Pepper sniff back tears. “Alright. Okay, good. We can wait.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We sure can,” Rhodey said, trying to have at least a little hope in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter heard footsteps, then the door beside him opened. He jumped to his feet. “Can I see him now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The adults all shared a look that made Peter want to scream - </span>
  <em>
    <span>Stop treating me like some little kid! I’ve been through this before! I </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>know</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> this pain! I just want it to end differently this time!</span>
  </em>
  <span> - but he kept a level head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He's asleep right now,” Dr. Cho told him. “You can see him if you want, but he won’t be able to talk to you or hear you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s okay,” Peter said, rushing past them into Tony’s room before they could stop him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Behind him, he heard Pepper whisper, “Poor kid.” Then the door closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter approached Tony’s bedside at full speed, only stopping when he caught the sight of the tubes in Tony’s skin and the bandages wrapped around his abdomen. He sat down in a chair next to Tony’s bed and just stared, wide-eyed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know what to say. It’s not like Tony would hear him anyway. So he just sat there, staring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, he spoke, his voice cracking, “Please wake up soon, Mr. Stark.” He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve. “I need you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Me @ myself when I started to write this: “Remember, this doesn’t need to be that long. It could even be less than a thousand words if you want. These are just short warm-up one shots. You wanna finish all these prompts soon, so don’t write so much. That way you can get through them all quickly.”<br/>Also me: *writes 1,486 words* (;-_-)</p><p>Hey, in my other fics I usually write chapters that are 2,000 to 3,000 words, okay? This is short for me lmaooo.<br/>I don’t know how long it’ll take me to finish all these prompts and I don’t know how frequently I’ll upload new chapters but we’ll see. Thank you so much for reading!! I adore reading all your lovely comments they always make me so happy, so feel free to leave comments and kudos! &lt;3 Thanks again for reading this even though it’s so late into the year lol.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Farewell Forever</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Look at me, actually continuing this. Proud of myself lmao. Enjoy the emotional hurt/comfort ahead!</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>AU: Adopted Peter Parker</b>
  </i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It took Peter a whole week to pack his things.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As excited as he was to leave for college, he also really didn’t want to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter was 18 years old now. It had been two years since May passed away and Peter moved into Avengers Tower. Two whole years. Only felt like just yesterday.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now he was moving out again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he finally finished packing, he sat on his bed, huddled up in his blanket, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix on his laptop. The lights were off and the blinds were closed, making his room seem dark even though it was the middle of the day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>FRIDAY must’ve notified Tony that he’d finished packing his bags (or tattled on him for looking all sad curling up in bed), because soon there was a knock at his door, followed by the familiar voice of his adopted father. “Pete? How you doing in there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter paused his TV show, cutting off Prince Zuko mid-speech about how much he had to capture the Avatar and regain his honor. “I’m fine,” he mumbled just loud enough for Tony to hear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door creaked open and Tony entered the room. He looked around and let out a laugh. “Whatcha doing in the dark, you vampire?” He flicked the light switches on, and Peter’s eyes blinked at the sudden brightness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Too lazy to turn them on,” Peter answered, voice muffled by the blanket wrapped around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony gave him a weak smile. He walked over to Peter’s bed and sat beside him. “Come out from under those covers. I can barely see your face.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter reluctantly closed his computer and sat up. His hair was a rat’s nest of bedhead, and despite sleeping in late that day, his eyes looked heavy with tiredness. He looked at Tony. “Hi,” he said in a small voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony chuckled, “Hey, kiddo.” He combed his fingers through Peter’s hair, trying to untangle some of those curls. “What’s got you down? Aren’t you excited to leave for MIT tomorrow?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter let out a noncommittal groaning sound.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, so that’s it, isn’t it? My boy’s nervous that he won’t make any new friends at his new school?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ned’s coming with me. We’re roommates.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well that’s good, at least,” Tony said. His voice was so low and warm, like the vocal equivalent of a hug. “So what’re you so worried about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter looked away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony scooted closer to Peter and wrapped an arm around him. “C’mon. You know you can tell me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a moment, Peter finally said, “I don’t wanna go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To MIT? Yeah, you do. Remember how excited you were when you got in? And besides, if you don’t go, you’re gonna disappoint a lot of MIT faculty who are excited to meet my very own son.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I mean… of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course</span>
  </em>
  <span> I wanna go to MIT, I just… don’t want to physically </span>
  <em>
    <span>go</span>
  </em>
  <span> there.” Peter leaned his head against Tony’s shoulder. “I don’t wanna leave you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony exhaled. He knew that was coming. He just wanted Peter to say it himself. “You won’t be leaving me </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Peter. You’ll be back at the Tower before you know it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I still feel so scared, though,” Peter whispered. “After my parents, and then Uncle Ben, and then… and then May. I just don’t want </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> to leave, too. I don’t wanna leave you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony ran his hand through Peter’s hair again. “I know,” he said back, just as quiet, and Peter heard the rumbling of his father’s voice in his chest. “To be honest, it’s hard for me to say goodbye, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s eyes flicked up, but he kept his head against Tony. “Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, kiddo,” Tony let out a soft laugh. “I only got to have you as my son for two years. And now you’re already grown up and leaving the nest.” He pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead. “But as sad as it’s gonna make me when you leave, I’ll also be equally as happy knowing that you’re going off to college and continuing on with your life. I’m so proud of you, you know. I’m proud of you for getting into MIT. I’m proud of you for all the good you’ve done as Spider-Man. I’m so proud of you for everything you’ve done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter felt all warm inside. He’d miss this at college - being hugged by his father. That just made him treasure this even more. “Thanks, Dad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony smiled. “I know it’s hard to say goodbye, but just remember, it’s not forever. You’ll be back soon. And besides, you’re gonna have so much fun at MIT. I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter cuddled closer to Tony, “Okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just don’t party as hard as I did back when I went to that school.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll happily be doing nerdy stuff with Ned at D&amp;D club and avoiding anything that requires any major social skills, like parties.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I don’t want my kid to be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>complete</span>
  </em>
  <span> loser freshman. You’ll have to go to at least </span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span> party, just so you don’t ruin my reputation.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Dad!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m kidding! I’m kidding,” Tony laughed and ruffled Peter’s messy hair. He looked at his son - his </span>
  <em>
    <span>son</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He couldn’t be happier with him. “You’re gonna do just fine, Pete.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter smiled, “Thanks, Dad.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one’s a short one but whatever lol. Hope you liked it! I’d appreciate it if you left kudos and comments if you did! They always make my day &lt;3 Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Graceless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m very determined to finish all of these hopefully before October. Then maybe I’ll do Whumptober, who knows. We’ll see. Anyway, this chapter’s more angsty than whumpy but whatever it’s getting posted anyway lol. Hope you like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony knew something was up as soon as Peter entered the lab after school. He was less talkative - <em> always </em> a telling point that Peter is feeling bad. The kid usually talked nonstop like he didn’t have to breathe.</p><p>Now, Peter just quietly worked on his Spider-Man suit, sitting at his desk, just a few feet from Tony.</p><p>Tony finally decided to bring it up. “So what is it, Peter?”</p><p>Peter blinked and straightened his posture at attention, “Hm?”</p><p>“What’s wrong, kiddo?”</p><p>“N-Nothing’s wrong.”</p><p>“Forgive me that it’s hard for me to believe you, buddy,” Tony chuckled. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”</p><p>Peter picked his legs off the ground and tucked them into his chest, shoes flat against his seat, “I’m fine.”</p><p>“Peter, one day you’re gonna learn to be a better liar, but that day is not today.” Tony stood up and walked closer to the kid. He put his hand on Peter’s back. “C’mon, kiddo. You can tell me.”</p><p>Peter didn’t respond right away, then pushed Tony’s hand away, “I said I’m <em> fine </em>.”</p><p>“Kid-”</p><p>Peter put his feet back down on the ground, stood up, and started walking towards the door. On the way there, he picked his bag up off the ground.</p><p>Tony’s face fell, concern filling his features. “Kiddo, you can talk to me, wait-”</p><p>Peter shut the door.</p><p>Tony stood there for a moment, shocked. Peter was always so cheerful. This sharp contrast almost felt like he was talking to a different kid.</p><p>After a couple minutes, Tony asked the empty room, “FRI, where did Peter go?”</p><p>“He’s in his room, Boss,” FRIDAY’s voice responded.</p><p>“I see,” Tony left the room now. He walked to the elevator and made his way to Peter’s room.</p><p>He knocked on Peter’s door, “Pete?”</p><p>“Leave me <em> alone </em>,” Peter’s voice came, muffled through the wall separating them.</p><p>Tony - the certified expert of pushing people away when he was upset - did not leave. “Not gonna happen, kiddo. You might as well just tell me what’s wrong.”</p><p>Peter didn’t answer.</p><p>Tony tried again. “Can I come in?”</p><p>No response again - but then a faint, “Fine.”</p><p>Tony turned the doorknob and pushed himself in. He was greeted to the sight of Peter sitting on his bed in a similar way to how he was sitting at his desk - his legs tucked into his chest, his feet - now only in socks - flat against his sheets, his sneakers strewn across the floor. Tony heard Peter let out a little sniffle.</p><p>An ache tugged at his heart. “Oh, buddy. What is it?” He made his way over to Peter’s bed and sat beside him. His hand returned to its comforting place on Peter’s back.</p><p>Peter didn’t push it away this time, but he still didn’t give Tony a straight answer. “It’s stupid.”</p><p>“If it’s making you this upset, I’m sure it’s not stupid.”</p><p>Again, Peter didn’t say anything. He scrunched his body up a bit more, becoming smaller.</p><p>Tony’s hand moved up to Peter’s shoulder, pulling him just a bit closer. “I promise I won’t judge you. You can talk to me about anything.”</p><p>Peter looked down at his feet. His mouth carefully opened, then finally responded, “Prom is coming up soon.”</p><p>A cold feeling came over Tony as he realized where this was going. “Did you ask that girl you like and she said no?”</p><p>Peter shook his head, “No, MJ said yes. We’re going together.”</p><p>Tony’s eyebrows knit together, “Then what’s the problem? Sounds like you’re all set.”</p><p>Peter lulled into silence again.</p><p>Tony tried to think of something, not wanting to lose his progress after finally getting the kid to open up, “Are you just nervous? Because I can guarantee she’s just as nervous as you are, Pete.”</p><p>Peter shrugged, “I mean… it’s just… I dunno. My only exposure to this sort of thing was Homecoming.”</p><p>Something clicked in Tony’s brain. <em> That </em> had to be it. “This whole thing’s reminding you of Homecoming, isn’t it?” Tony asked in his soft voice. “Giving you some bad memories and all that? Well, luckily, there’s no crazy Vulture guy on the loose, so you should be fine-”</p><p>“No, no, that’s not-” Peter snapped, lifting his head from its scrunched-up position. He then sighed, “Sorry.”</p><p>Tony’s mind was racing. What the fuck was making his kid upset? He had to fix it. That’s what Tony did - <em> fix </em> things. He would make his kid happy again if it was the last thing he did. But nothing he threw out seemed to stick. “Peter, buddy, you’re gonna have to gimme something here. I got nothing for you unless you just tell me what it is that’s bothering you.”</p><p>Peter picked at some lint on his sock, “I…” His eyes flicked in the opposite direction of Tony. Then he mumbled something.</p><p>“I’m sorry, what was that?”</p><p>“I don’t know how to dance!” Peter finally admitted, a bit louder than he’d meant to.</p><p>Tony forced the smile creeping onto his face to stay down. He tried to swallow the laugh in his throat, but it managed to squeeze out as a few light chuckles. “Oh, Peter. Is that all?”</p><p>“I told you it was stupid-”</p><p>“No! No, it’s not stupid at all, kiddo,” Tony gave Peter’s shoulder a squeeze. “It’s just something that we can very easily fix.”</p><p>“What d’you mean?” Peter looked up at Tony.</p><p>“Look who you’re talking to, kid,” Tony flashed a smile. “I can teach you how to dance.”</p><p>Peter blinked, eyes wide. “You’d… You’d do that for me?”</p><p>“Yeah, of course. I’ll even get Pepper to join us. She'd love to help out.”</p><p>The corners of Peter’s mouth were finally starting to turn up. “That’s… That’s amazing, Mr. Stark. Thank you so much!” That sparkle had returned to his eyes.</p><p>Tony couldn’t be happier. He stood up, “Let’s go get her right now. I'll ask her to dance with me and you can watch how it's done.”</p><p>“Isn’t she in important meetings all day?”</p><p>“This is more important than some dumb shareholders meeting.”</p><p>“I-I don’t think it-”</p><p>“Nuh-uh, I don’t wanna hear it,” Tony shook his head. “I am the adult, which means I know better than you, and I say that teaching you to dance is more important.”</p><p>Peter laughed - <em> finally </em> laughed, “Okay, Mr. Stark. Fine.” He stood up, too.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed this little not-so-whumpy chapter! Again, I love receiving validation through all of your kudos and comments so feel free to leave them! Thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Stabbed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The whole point of me wanting to start doing these prompts again was because I wanted to experiment with writing in different AUs and stuff - and then I like barely did that lol. So in this one I did! Hope you like it!</p><p>(Very loosely inspired by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/ByvVyzcIPAc/?igshid=174ahcthf30cy">this awesome fanart</a> that I saw a long time ago.)</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>AU: Knights / Historical Fantasy</b>
  </i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony swung his broadsword, blocking his opponent’s attack. His red and gold armor - the traditional attire of the leader of the Royal Guard - glinted under the sunlight streaming down through the open roof of the battle arena. In three more quick movements, Tony disarmed his opponent - sending the man’s shortsword flying across the arena floor - and held the tip of his blade to the man’s throat.</p><p>The huge crowds in the seats surrounding him erupted into cheers, echoing against the stone walls. Tony sheathed his sword, and two guards ushered his opponent off the main stage.</p><p>Tony was never the biggest fan of doing these kinds of events, but being head of the Royal Guard came with its fair share of showing off his skills to the populace. That way, the people had the chance to see how talented a fighter their Knight Leader was, and how safe they were in his protection. He’d fought minotaurs and manticores and all kinds of crazy creatures in this very arena, but today he was dueling the city's most popular gladiators - not to the death, just until surrender.</p><p>Tony just found it was tiring, and a waste of his time. He had more important work to do - <em> actual </em> work to do - rather than show off on a stage.</p><p>Although - he had to admit - the cheers of adoration were something he enjoyed. How could he not? The attention was intoxicating. The faster he defeated each opponent, sure, the faster he would get this over with, but it also meant the faster he’d get to hear that audience cheer his name. It felt nice to be appreciated.</p><p>The sound of the horns interrupted Tony’s thoughts, and the gates opened, revealing a new challenger for him to fight. This was supposedly the last one. Good - Tony was getting older, and he couldn’t do these long tournaments as easily anymore.</p><p>A figure stepped out from the shadows behind the gates. Tony tilted his head to the side. For the grand finale, this opponent was rather small.</p><p>The announcer’s voice then came booming through the stadium, “And lastly, the prodigy from the outer reaches of the city, the Man of Spiders!”</p><p>The audience kept cheering, excited for the final fight. Tony kept his eyes trained on the figure approaching him. Man of Spiders, huh? Gladiators these days always had such gimmicky names, with armor to match. The Man of Spiders had spider-themed armor, webbing carved into the steel. His helmet covered his face, like most suits of armor did - including Tony’s.</p><p>The horns rang out again, and the fight began.</p><p>The Man of Spiders drew two swords and swung them around in a flourish. In his younger days, Tony may have done a similarly flashy move, but these days, he just focused on the task at hand. Two swords, eh? Tony could deal with that easily. Tony had fought head-on against whole armies before. He’d deal with this ‘prodigy’ as quickly as his other foes.</p><p>Or maybe he spoke too soon.</p><p>The Man of Spiders was quick, and had reflexes that felt almost inhuman. He was flexible - Tony saw now that the webbing of the armor was actually the seams between many small pieces of metal joined together, making the armor more pliant, allowing his challenger to maneuver around faster than most were able to. Tony’s suit wasn’t clunky - not by far, he’d improved his suit a lot from it’s original design, working on it at his anvil - but it didn’t give him the limberness of the Man of Spiders’ suit.</p><p>They fought back and forth across the stage for much longer than Tony had anticipated. This guy was <em> good </em>, whoever he was. The crowds in the arena shouted and clapped, gasping at tense moments. The Man of Spiders’ twin swords slashed at him, and Tony blocked and pushed them away. With the momentum of his heavy broadsword, he swung forward at his opponent, finally landing a solid hit.</p><p>He didn’t pierce the Man of Spiders’ complex armor - he hadn’t wanted to - but he managed to knock him over. As he hit the ground, the man’s helmet popped off, revealing curls of brown hair and wide, brown eyes.</p><p>Tony froze as he saw that the ‘man’ was actually a boy.</p><p>The boy looked stunned for a moment, propping up his hands to get back up. He reached for his swords, but Tony quickly regained his senses and kicked one away, then flung the other one in the opposite direction with the tip of his own sword. He then shifted his sword over the ‘Man’ of Spiders and pointed it at him.</p><p>With no choice but surrender, the boy sighed and accepted his defeat, raising his hands.</p><p>The crowd roared in waves of applause again. Tony sheathed his sword, but didn’t turn away. He removed his own helmet, wanting to look the kid in the eyes - brown eyes so similar to his own.</p><p>“You’re good, kid,” Tony said to him. “What’s your name?”</p><p>The kid stared up at him - looking half in awe and half in shock that the leader of the Royal Guard was actually speaking to him. “Um, Peter.”</p><p>“Peter,” Tony repeated, just as the arena guards came to guide the boy away. Tony didn’t say anything else, just kept his eyes on the kid as he walked back into the darkness beyond the arena gates.</p><p>As Tony received another ceremonial medal that he didn’t care about, he couldn’t stop thinking about that boy.</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>Tony Stark had been the head of the Royal Guard for around 10 years now. He became a knight when he was 17, he began training to be a knight when he was 13, and he’d been a fighter since he was born.</p><p>Now he was almost 50, and through all his years in armor, he’d never even considered the possibility of getting an apprentice. Many of the other knights of the royal guard did. Tony was not close to most of them, but one of the archers that he knew well - Clint - had taken his daughter under his wing, training her to be as sharp a markman as he was.</p><p>Tony could never do something like that - train a child.</p><p>At least, that’s what he thought until he fought Peter in the tournament.</p><p>Now, he was reconsidering his stance on apprentices.</p><p>He searched around for a few days, asking anyone he knew about the ‘Man of Spiders’, until eventually it led him to the outer edges of the city - a poorer neighborhood far away from the inner city walls where Tony spent most of his days.</p><p>He took a carriage out there, looking in the places he’d been told Peter might be. Eventually he finally found him.</p><p>Again, he saw the kid fighting. This time not in a tournament, but on the cobblestone street.</p><p>He was in his full armor again, swinging his twin swords at some hooded man. On the sidelines, a shopkeeper was angrily shouting about his goods being stolen. Tony saw the hooded man holding a large back and put two and two together.</p><p>Peter swung at the thief, but this man was experienced. He quickly pulled out a dagger and thrust it at Peter before even the kid’s quick reflexes could react. The thief stabbed the knife deep into Peter’s left hip, wedged right in the web-shaped seam between two metal pieces on his armor.</p><p>The boy collapsed to the ground and the thief ran away.</p><p>Tony cursed under his breath. He thought the kid had the situation handled - when he fought Peter at the tournament, he was able to gage how highly skilled he was, and Tony thought he’d be able to take down a common thief easily. Turns out the thief wasn’t so common - or at that least he was just lucky.</p><p>Tony ran over to where Peter’s figure laid on the ground, clutching his wound. He stood over him, “Hey, Spider-Man. You need some help there?”</p><p>Peter coughed behind his mask, his face still turned down, curled into the fetal position, “Th-That’s not my name. That sounds so stupid.”</p><p>“You’re bleeding out, kid. Can I <em> please </em> help you?”</p><p>“I-I’m fine, I just-” Peter finally looked up at him. Tony - who was wearing most of his armor except for his helmet - was able to catch a glimpse of Peter’s brown eyes through the eye holes in the kid’s mask. “Wait, it’s you, Mr. Stark? O-Or wait, is it Lord Stark? Or Sir Stark?”</p><p>“Any of those are fine,” Tony said hurriedly. Technically, the kid should say 'Sir Tony', but Tony didn't bother to mention that since he was concentrating on trying to prevent the kid from bleeding out in the street. Couldn't the kid just focus on the task at hand? “Can you stand up?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, I can-” Peter motioned to get up, but was hit by a wave of pain centering at his stab wound. “Just… Just gimme a second.”</p><p>“Take my hand,” Tony reached out. The few people that were walking along the cobblestone road stared at them - what was the leader of the Royal Guard doing all the way out here? And who was this kid that got his special attention?</p><p>Peter hesitated for a moment, then grabbed onto Tony’s wrist.</p><p>Tony pulled him up. Peter winced and Tony quickly slung the boy’s arm around his shoulders to support him, allowing Peter to stand up as much as he could. Tony had done this a million times on battlefields, but never in the street and <em> never </em> for someone this young. Too young to be fighting already.</p><p>People said the same thing about Tony when he became a knight at 17, and back then Tony had sneered at them and argued back. But now that he was older, he could understand their side. That age was too young to fight in a war.</p><p>Why was this kid choosing to fight in the streets?</p><p>“Where’s the nearest cleric sanctum out here?” Tony asked Peter, stabilizing him more with his other arm hooked around the boy’s waist.</p><p>“Um, I dunno” Peter hopped on his right foot, not wanting to put pressure on his wounded left leg. “I don’t think we have those in my neighborhood, Sir Stark.”</p><p>“Well then you’re coming with me to the inner city,” Tony said. “You think you can walk for a block? I have a carriage close by.”</p><p>“Uh… sure.”</p><p>Tony started to walk. Peter hopped along, but soon stopped again. Tony heard the kid let out a tiny whimper under his helmet.</p><p><em> Too young </em>, was all he thought to himself.</p><p>Peter tried to keep walking, but Tony held him in place. “Nope, stop. You’re just gonna hurt yourself more,” he said to Peter. His voice had taken on some level of gentleness and reassurance that he’d never heard in himself before. “Here, I have a better idea.” He bent down, moving his arm that was around Peter’s waist down to Peter’s knees.</p><p>“What are you-”</p><p>Tony lifted Peter off the ground before he could finish asking his question. “There. Is there better?”</p><p>Tony couldn’t see Peter’s face other than his eyes due to the helmet, but the voice that answered him sounded a little less pained, “U-Um, yeah, I guess. Sir Stark, you don’t have to-”</p><p>“It’s alright, boy,” Tony said, that strange gentle tone still in his voice. “I don’t want you to be in pain.” He then started to walk in the direction of his carriage.</p><p>After a moment, Peter spoke again, “Thank you, sir.”</p><p>“It’s no problem,” Tony replied, his determined gaze looking forward down the street. “My carriage isn’t far from here. You can sit down in there.”</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>After a brief ride through the building-lined streets, passing through the large, ornate gates of the inner city walls, the horses pulling the carriage slowed down in front of a large cleric sanctum - a beautiful old building crowned with a tall spire. On the front of the sanctum was a large, circular window, covered by thick criss-crossing lines of metal in a peculiar symbol.</p><p>Now inside, Peter - his helm now removed - laid on one of the cots in the sanctum’s healing wing. Tony sat a few feet away, watching as a cleric worked over the boy. The cleric in question, Steven Strange, was in fact the Archmage of this sanctum - as well as one of Tony’s more unlikely friends. Tony saw as Strange’s hands would glow white with healing magic, hovering over Peter’s stab wound.</p><p>Soon, Strange was finished, telling Tony that Peter would be fine and just needed to rest. Tony nodded and walked over to Peter’s bedside.</p><p>Peter looked up at him, “Hello, sir.”</p><p>“You feeling better?” Tony asked. Again, there was that soft tone of voice. Since when was he able to speak like this?</p><p>“Y-Yeah,” Peter let out a little cough. “Yeah, a lot better. Thanks.”</p><p>“No problem, kid.”</p><p>“I’ve, um…” Peter’s eyes flicked away, “I’ve never seen magic before.”</p><p>“Amazing stuff, isn’t it?” Tony sat down at the foot of Peter’s cot.</p><p>“I’ve never, uh, been inside the inner city walls before, either.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Well, o-other than when I fought in that tournament with you,” Peter looked so awkward. He didn’t know how to talk to <em> the </em> Tony Stark, head of the Royal Guard, the man captured by the enemy during the war and built his own suit of armor out of scraps in order to escape. “Th-That was fun, by the way. Good fight.”</p><p>“I meant to ask you - why’d you enter?”</p><p>“The tournament? Well,” Peter shrugged, “I needed the pay. Plus it seemed fun. I-I didn’t even think I’d make the qualifiers, but I did. Apparently I’m more popular of a gladiator in my neighborhood than I thought.” The boy smiled a little at the thought.</p><p>Tony couldn’t help but smile as well. Peter was adorable, Tony had to admit to himself. This wide-eyed, innocent-seeming kid. What was he doing swinging around dual blades? “You're a great fighter, you know that kid?”</p><p>
  <span>“Um, th-thanks, Sir Stark,” Peter’s grin widened, sheepish. “That means a lot, coming from you and all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now that Peter was out of danger, this would probably be a good time to tell him that the proper way to address him was ‘Sir Tony’, but he kind of didn’t want to. The mistake just showed how adorably innocent the kid was. “I mean it, you’re good. But you’re so young, kid. How old are you?”</span>
</p><p>Peter’s face fell a bit, not expecting the question, “Um, fifteen.”</p><p><em> Fifteen, </em> Tony repeated in his head, astounded. “What are you doing entering tournaments and fighting thieves in the streets?”</p><p>Peter fidgeted with his hands. “It’s for the reason you said - I’m a talented fighter. My uncle taught me the basics of how to use a sword, and I got better the more I trained. So since I have that skill, I use it. I needed money, so I became a gladiator and entered tournaments. And as for stopping thieves, well…” Peter’s voice trailed off as he looked away. When his eyes met Tony’s again, there was something heavy in Peter’s gaze that all of a sudden made him seem much, much older than just some kid, “When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.”</p><p>And that’s when everything clicked in Tony’s brain. It was looking in a magic mirror into the past - like he was looking at his 17-year-old self, with the brown eyes and hair to match, and the same stoic, determined gaze. Except, in places where Tony had been selfish, Peter was responsible. Peter understood things that Tony didn’t learn until much later in his life.</p><p>When Tony spoke again, he was finally able to identify what that gentle tone in his voice was - <em> paternal </em>. “What you’re doing is pretty dangerous though, don’t you think? If I hadn’t been looking for you today, you might not have survived.”</p><p>Peter just shrugged, “I wanted to help that shopkeeper that got robbed.”</p><p>“If you wanna help people, then maybe you should become a knight.”</p><p>Peter’s head shot up, staring at Tony with awe, “D-Do you really mean that, sir?”</p><p>Tony smiled, “Yes, I do. You <em> are </em> really talented, after all. Of course, you’d need to go through training first,” <em> Which is a </em> <b> <em>lot</em> </b> <em> safer for a child to do than to-the-death gladiator tournaments or picking fights with thieves in the streets, </em> Tony thought to himself. “You wouldn’t become a full-fledged knight until you’re older and complete the training.”</p><p>Peter thought for a moment. “What’s training like? How does it work?”</p><p>“Well, for a number of years, you become an apprentice to someone who already is a knight,” Tony explained. “You study under them and do the training work that they give you.”</p><p>Peter nodded, “I see. Who would you assign me under?”</p><p>Tony blinked. He thought it was obvious. “I was thinking <em> I </em> could train you.”</p><p>Peter’s jaw dropped, “I-I… You mean it, sir?”</p><p>“Yes, of course,” Tony chuckled. “You gave me the toughest fight at that tournament, you know. I see some great potential in you, kid.”</p><p>Peter’s eyes were sparkling. “I’d be honored, Sir Stark.”</p><p>Tony smiled. Under his guidance, he’d be able to keep the kid safe from any other dangers that might assail him. “Good. As soon as you’re all healed up, we can start.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I did NOT mean to write 2,844 words lmao<br/>Hope you liked this little AU thing. I like experimenting with AUs cuz that way I don’t feel like I’m writing the same story over and over again. And with these prompts it’s cool cuz I can write these AUs even if I can’t think of an entire multi-chapter-long plot for them. Again, these are like warmups.<br/>I hope you liked this, and I love all your kudos and comments! Thank you!</p><p>EDIT: I have now turned this AU into its own collection of one shots! You can read them<br/></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Unfortunate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one’s not an AU. In fact, this is more funny than whump. It’s bordering on crack tbh. Whatever lol I got this idea and really wanted to write it lmao hope you like it</p><p>
  <b>!!!Chapter Warnings: Mild Gore</b>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony noticed that Peter had the tendency to overreact to little things.</p><p>The first time he noticed this, Peter was with him in the lab. They were working on a new Spider-Man suit when and all of a sudden he heard Peter shout, “FUCKING DAMMIT!”</p><p>Tony looked up, startled. The kid had been so hyper-focused on his work that he’d been completely silent for the past 20 minutes. And now all of a sudden he was shouting profanities at the top of his lungs. “Kid, watch your language. Are you okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m fine, I just,” Peter looked up at the ceiling and let out a low groan, “I put too much solder on the circuit board.”</p><p>Tony gave Peter an incredulous look. “Pete, I thought you’d burnt your finger or something.”</p><p>“Nah, I’m okay.”</p><p>“Why’d you shout then?”</p><p>“Cuz it’s gonna be soooo annoying to clean up the solder, Mr. Stark!” Peter whined.</p><p>Tony couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the kid’s childishness. “Just use the desoldering pump to remove it. It’s not that big a deal, kiddo.”</p><p>“I knowww but it’s so annoying to use! Cuz you gotta melt the solder again with the iron but then you gotta use two hands to use the desoldering pump but I don’t have three hands!”</p><p>Tony kept laughing. “You don’t need to use two hands to use the desoldering pump, Pete.”</p><p>“<em> I </em> do! Cuz it's too difficult otherwise!”</p><p>“It’s not my fault that you have small baby hands.”</p><p>“Mr. <em> Stark </em>!”</p><p>Tony smirked. “How ‘bout I help you then, okay? Will you stop whining then?”</p><p>Peter opened his mouth to argue, but then gave up and smiled instead. “Yeah, sure. Thanks, Mr. Stark.”</p><p>Tony only noticed Peter’s overreactions even more after that incident.</p><p>One time Peter stayed overnight at the Tower and ate breakfast with the Avengers the next morning. Peter woke up late - like usual - and was last to get his food, meaning all of the Avengers were eating at the table already.</p><p>Peter took his toast out of the toaster.</p><p>He then immediately proceeded to accidentally drop it on the ground.</p><p>Tony let out a laugh, as well as many of the other Avengers.</p><p>Peter, however, did not laugh. He just looked up at the ceiling and said, “I guess this is just a sign that God has truly abandoned me.”</p><p>The Avengers laughed harder, not expecting Peter to say that.</p><p>“Pete, buddy,” Tony managed to speak again, “It’s not that big a deal. Just make another piece of toast.”</p><p>Peter didn’t respond. He didn’t even pick up his toast. He just stared down at it with glazed-over eyes.</p><p>Tony was honestly worried. He stood and walked over to Peter and placed a hand on him back. “There there, kiddo. Don’t worry about it. Let’s make another piece of toast.</p><p>Peter looked up at Tony. “Why does the world hate me?”</p><p>Now that he was closer, Tony could clearly see that Peter had the faintest smile on his face and wasn’t being serious. He ruffled Peter’s hair. “You rascal. The world loves you.”</p><p>“Tell that to the Daily Bugle.”</p><p>“They’re full of bullshit and you know it. Now let’s get you another piece of bread.”</p><p>Occasions like this happened often, and Tony had grown used to them. He actually found it very funny. He just assumed it was something the kids do these days. One day, Peter’s friend joined him in the lab - his name was Ted or something. When Ted accidentally broke his pencil while he and Peter did their homework, he too said an overdramatic phrase. This confirmed to Tony that it was indeed something that the teens of this generation did.</p><p>Which is why Tony was so surprised when he received a certain phone call from Peter.</p><p>It was almost midnight. Tony was wide awake in the lab - of course he was - when FRIDAY suddenly told him, “Boss, Peter is calling from the AI in his Spider-Man suit.”</p><p>“Patch him through,” Tony said casually, continuing to screw in something in his Iron Man gauntlet.</p><p>Peter’s voice then came in through the overhead speakers. “Um, hey Mr. Stark.”</p><p>“Hey Pete, what’s up?” Tony responded. “Is tonight’s patrol boring you?</p><p>“Uh… not quite,” Peter said. “I’m in… a pretty inconvenient position.”</p><p>“Yeah? What is it?”</p><p>“I… It’s really quite the unfortunate situation, actually.”</p><p>“Peter, spit it out. I doubt it’s that bad if you’re this chill about it. I’ve seen you curse out a wall when you swore it ‘ran into you’,” Tony laughed at the memory.</p><p>“Okay, so I, uh…” Peter hesitated, “…I broke my leg.”</p><p>Tony stopped working. His head shot up. “<em> What </em> did you just say?”</p><p>“I um… broke my leg? I can see the bone sticking out a little too-”</p><p>“Peter! Oh my god! Sit tight, buddy. I’m on my way.” Tony began to call his suit. It formed around him. He flew out the open window and continued to talk to Peter through the com in his suit. “Pete, I think you’re in shock.”</p><p>“Nah, I’m fine. This’ll heal in like, a week tops. I’m not even bleeding a ton cuz the bone is kinda blocking the blood from coming out-”</p><p>“You <em> must </em> be in shock, buddy. You’re too calm. It’s scary. I mean, I’ve seen you freak out after you hung up a poster in your room because it was slightly crooked.”</p><p>“Eh, this isn’t that big a deal.”</p><p>“Your <em> bone </em> is coming through your <em> leg </em>, Peter!”</p><p>“It really do does be that way sometimes.”</p><p>“<em> Peter! </em>”</p><p>“Sorry, Mr. Stark! It’s just my Gen Z nature to overreact to little things and barely react to big things. Plus, this’ll heal.”</p><p>“You still must be in pain though, kiddo.”</p><p>“I mean…” Peter hesitated, and Tony heard him wince, “yeah, a little.”</p><p>“It’s okay, kiddo. I’m almost to your location.”</p><p>When Tony arrived, he scooped up Peter and immediately flew him to the Tower’s medical wing. He’d called Dr. Cho while in the suit and she had arrived already.</p><p>After Peter’s bone was reset and he was laying in his hospital bed, Tony sat at his side. “I called May. She freaked out a bit, but I calmed her down. I told her you’ll be staying here for a while. Now, you wanna tell me how this happened?”</p><p>“It’s stupid,” Peter said. “I ran outta web fluid but I was already in the air. I fell to the ground and snap! My leggy bone yeeted out of my body.”</p><p>Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Peter, don’t… don’t describe your injury like that. Did Dr. Cho give you any pain meds?”</p><p>“Not enough to make me loopy. Nah, I’m just like this Mr. Stark.”</p><p>“You’re ridiculous, kid.”</p><p>“Yet you somehow love me anyway.”</p><p>Tony smiled and ruffled Peter’s hair. “Yeah, I do. I love you, you weirdo.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah I have no excuse for this chaotic mess. Hope you liked this little not-so-whumpy story as a break from all the other whump lol. I love your kudos and comments!!! Thanks for reading!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Broken Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Halfway through the prompts! Enjoy some kid Peter whump!</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>AU: BioDad Tony Stark, Kid Peter Parker</b>
  </i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Peter Stark was only 7 years old when his dad went missing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, the news channels on TV said that his dad was dead. But Ms. Pepper and Uncle Rhodey said that the people on the news didn’t know what they were talking about and that his dad was still alive - and that he shouldn’t worry, because he’d come home soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter really liked Ms. Pepper and Uncle Rhodey. He was really grateful to them because they both let him stay in either one of their houses while his dad was away - depending on who was in town and was able to take care of him that day. Peter liked Ms. Pepper’s house. She’d bought him a stuffed animal on his first night staying over there so he wouldn’t feel lonely in the big guest room bed. And Uncle Rhodey was great, too. He’d always let Peter have an extra cookie after dinner if he asked nicely. Ms. Pepper was really nice, too. When one of them would bring Peter to the building where his dad and Ms. Pepper worked, he’d get to sit in Ms. Pepper’s office the whole day and play games on his Nintendo DS - as long as he stayed quiet, which he always did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But as much as Peter loved Uncle Rhodey and Ms. Pepper, he loved his dad more than anyone. And he was really sad that he was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wanted his dad to come back home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t have a mommy. At least, he’d never really met his mommy. Peter used to feel sad because some kids used to make fun of him at school for not having a mom. But then one day his dad told him, “Oh, you don’t need to listen to them, Petey. They’re just jealous because their fathers aren’t as awesome as yours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter had giggled at that, and then his dad had lifted him up into his arms and pressed a kiss to his forehead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter really missed his dad. It felt like something was missing in his heart, like when his dad had gone he had taken a piece of Peter with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One time, he was in Ms. Pepper’s office again. His dad had been missing for a little over two months. He was playing Pokémon Diamond on his DS, but he couldn’t seem to focus on the game. He kept thinking of memories of his dad - and while the memories were happy, they were making him sad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter really felt like he was going to cry, but Ms. Pepper told him to be as quiet as a mouse, and he didn’t want to disobey her. But, it wasn't like she was on the phone or talking to someone or anything like that. She was just tapping away at her computer keyboard. And besides, Ms. Pepper was always </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> nice to him. Maybe… Maybe it would be okay if Peter made a little noise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He closed his DS and put it in his bag just as his eyesight started to become blurry with tears. He sniffled and started to sob.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Immediately, he heard Ms. Pepper’s kind voice behind him, “Oh, Peter, sweetheart.” He heard her high-heeled footsteps against the tile floor come closer to him, and then saw as she crouched down in front of the office chair he sat in, her strawberry-blonde hair tied back in it’s usual tight ponytail. She looked into Peter’s eyes, “Do you miss your dad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter nodded, his loose curls of hair bouncing as he did so. He inhaled a shaky breath, as if it struggled to get inside his lungs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ms. Pepper’s face was full of concern. She wrapped her arms around Peter, pulling him off the chair. Peter clung to her as she then sat down in the chair and placed Peter on her lap. Peter thought that if he had to have a mommy, he wouldn’t mind it being Ms. Pepper. She was always very nice to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry, Peter,” Ms. Pepper said. When Peter looked up at her, he saw that she had small tears in the corners of her eyes, too. “I’m so sorry this happened.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sniffed, his voice shaking, “W-When is Dad c-coming back?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ms. Pepper shook her head and scrunched her eyes up tight, like maybe if she closed them hard enough it would block the tears from coming out. “I don’t know, Peter. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I m-miss him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Ms. Pepper hugged him tighter. “I miss him, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After three months since the day his dad went missing, Uncle Rhodey called Ms. Pepper while Peter was staying at her house. He told them that he’d finally found him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter had started crying again, but they weren’t sad tears this time. Now they were tears of overwhelming joy. He’d get to see his dad again. It sounded too good to be true. He was almost starting to believe the people on the TV that said his father was dead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter stood next to Ms. Pepper on the airport tarmac, holding her hand. Behind them was Uncle Happy and the car they had arrived in. A huge plane landed in front of them - bigger than any plane Peter had ever seen. It said ‘U.S. Air Force’ on the side of it. Peter knew that was where Uncle Rhodey worked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The plane cruised on its wheels over to where Peter and Ms. Pepper stood. It stopped, and then the giant door to the cargo hold began to open ever so slowly. Peter could barely wait any longer. He had to see if this was real - if his dad was actually home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the door opened, Peter could see two figures at the top of the ramp, one helping the other walk. As they stepped into the sun, Peter could make out their faces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was Uncle Rhodey, and beside him, Peter’s father - Tony Stark.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His dad’s arm was in a sling and he was limping, but his dad kept his head up, his back straight, his eyes forward and unfaltering - looking so strong even after all he’d been through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter burst into tears, He couldn’t hold them back any longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He broke free from Ms. Pepper’s grasp on his hand and ran forward. He heard Ms. Pepper shout his name behind him, but he didn’t listen. He just ran towards his father and </span>
  <em>
    <span>screamed</span>
  </em>
  <span> through his tears, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>DAD!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dad, Dad, y-you’re home! You’re home!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He saw his father’s eyes flick down and spot him - and in that moment of recognition, all that strong, level-headed, unfaltering persona disappeared, melting away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Peter</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” said his dad’s voice. He was finally hearing his dad’s voice again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter kept running forward, barely able to see from all the tears in his eyes. When he reached his dad, the man had managed to crouch down to his height, kneeling at the edge of the plane’s ramp, arms open for him - even the arm in the sling was stretched out as far as it could go without causing pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter ran right into his open arms and cried into his father’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could barely form any words other than ‘Dad,’ his voice becoming broken with sobs that shook his whole body. He repeated the word, like his father might disappear again if he stopped reminding himself that he was actually there in front of him, his strong arms wrapped around Peter’s tiny 7-year-old body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His dad’s voice spoke again, sounding strained in a way Peter had never heard it sound before, “Peter, my baby boy. I’m here, buddy, I’m here. It’s okay. I’m here and I’m never leaving you again. Never, my son, never ever again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The longer Peter stayed there in his father’s embrace, the more his universe seemed to feel normal again. He was reminded of small things that he hadn’t even realized he’d missed so much - the familiar feeling of his dad’s goatee against his forehead, of those callused hands against his back, of the deep, soothing reverberations of his dad’s voice in his chest that always calmed Peter down in an instant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter looked up, wanting to see his dad’s face after only being able to see it in pictures for so long - and to his surprise, his dad was crying. He’d never seen his dad cry before. There weren’t a lot of tears, but they were there, streaming in thin lines down his cheeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-You’re crying,” Peter pointed it out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father gave him a smile and a tiny nod, “Yes I am, kiddo. Because I missed you so much. I thought I might never get to see you again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter tried to sniff back his own tears so he’d be able to speak clearly, “I-I thought… I thought the s-same thing… a-about you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony put his large hand on the back of Peter’s small head and pulled him into the crook of his neck. Peter immediately relaxed a bit more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry, baby boy,” his dad whispered to him. “I’m so sorry I made you worry so much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-It’s okay,” Peter didn’t want his dad to apologise. “I-I’m just glad y-you’re back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am too, buddy,” Tony ran his hands through Peter’s soft hair. “Everyday that I was gone, I thought about you. And I thought about holding you again, just like this. You kept me alive out there, kiddo. If I didn’t have you to come back, too - well, I don’t know if I would’ve made it back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t fully understand exactly what his dad meant, but he knew it was important. “I-I love you, Dad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His father let out a shaky breath, then inhaled sharply - struggling to control his barely steady breathing. He pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead, “I love you too, </span>
  <em>
    <span>tesoro</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I love you so much.” Another kiss in the same spot against his hairline, then Peter felt himself being lifted into the air and propped up on his dad’s hip. “Come on, now. Let’s get to the car. I’ll hold you in my lap the whole ride to the conference building.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter nodded against his father’s neck and wrapped tiny legs around his dad’s waist, securing himself to him so he could definitely never leave again.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love writing kid Peter every once and awhile. It’s such a fun change of pace from regular teenager Peter lol. Hope you liked this chapter! As always, I love your kudos and comments!! Thank you for reading!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Hearing Loss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for over 10,000 hits!! I love you all 3000! Hope you like this chapter! &lt;3</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>AU: Adopted Peter Parker</b>
  </i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Tony adopted Peter after May died, it didn’t take very long for the media to find out.</p><p>Neither Tony nor Pepper had even released any statements to the press, but paparazzi had managed to snap a few pictures of Tony picking Peter up from Midtown High School, and the rumors started flying. Both gossip magazines and major newspapers alike printed headlines like <em> ‘The Secret Stark Heir’ </em> and <em> ‘The Mysterious Child of Tony Stark’ </em>.</p><p>Tony then decided it would probably be best if he held a press conference to make things official.</p><p>The press conference was held in Avengers Tower, in a room on one of the lower floors. Sunlight streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows onto an audience of reporters sitting in folding chairs. Cameras were ready to roll for various news stations.</p><p>And in the back room, just minutes before they were set to go live, Tony was trying his best to calm Peter down.</p><p>“You’re gonna do great, kid,” Tony said to him. He wore an expensive suit and tinted sunglasses, like usual.</p><p>Peter - wearing a similar suit, but without a tie - frantically paced around the room, “But Dad, what if I mess up and say something I shouldn’t say?”</p><p>“Just answer any of their questions that you wanna answer,” Tony’s voice was steady and calming. “If you don’t wanna answer one, or you don’t know the answer, you can just say ‘no comment’ or look to me for help, okay?”</p><p>“Okay,” Peter took a deep breath, then groaned. “It’s just so many <em> people </em>-”</p><p>“I know, kid. But you can do this.”</p><p>“But what if-”</p><p>“Peter, look at me,” Tony put his hand on his son’s shoulder, halting his pacing.</p><p>Peter’s eyes stopped flicking around the room and instead focused on his father’s face.</p><p>Tony kept his gaze steady, “I know you’re going out there as Peter, and I know Peter is a nervous, shy kid. But I’ve seen you as Spider-Man, too. You’re way more confident when you put on that mask. You can channel that confidence now. Even though they don’t know you’re Spider-Man, you still <em> are </em> Spider-Man.”</p><p>Peter nodded, taking in the words. Finally, he gave his face a couple light smacks, waking himself up. “Right. Yeah. Exactly. I’m Spider-Man.”</p><p>Tony smiled and patted his shoulder, “Attaboy.”</p><p>Behind them, the door opened, causing the background noise of shouting reporters to increase for a moment before the door was closed again. Pepper had entered. “I warmed them up for you. You guys are on now.”</p><p>“Thank you, honey,” Tony kissed Pepper’s cheek, then looked over at Peter again, “You ready?”</p><p>Peter took a deep breath, “I think so.”</p><p>“Alright,” Tony slung his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “Just remember, I’ll be right next to you.”</p><p>Peter nodded, then stared forward - steeling his gaze. <em> I’m Spider-Man. I’m Spider-Man. </em></p><p>Tony pushed the door open with the arm that wasn’t around his son, and they walked into the room.</p><p>Immediately, the huge video cameras turned towards them, and the tons of reporters leapt from their chairs and leaned as close to Tony and Peter as possible without toppling over the black stanchion barrier, shouting their questions over each other. Some of them took photos, each snapshot creating a bright flash of light. Peter averted his eyes, the sudden increase of lights and sounds making his Spidey-Sense dizzy. Tony pushed his sunglasses farther up his nose and held Peter close to him, protective.</p><p>The reporters got more and more disorderly as Peter and Tony walked closer to the podium at the center of the room. The room was full of noise - cameras and voices overlapping into a chaotic mess for Peter’s Spidey-Sense to process. Everyone was speaking all at once, asking different questions, yelling different phrases. His brain kept trying to focus on a coherent thought but it was just too loud, too <em> much </em>.</p><p>Peter’s breathing quickened harshly and he was starting to get a headache. He heard his heartbeat in his ears. He’d had sensory overload attacks before, so he kind of knew how to fight one off from completely consuming him, but this was worse than any attack he’d experienced before. He didn’t know how long he’d last with this amount of noise. God, the <em> noise </em>.</p><p>Tony could feel Peter’s steps falter and his body shake with each hyperventilating breath. “Peter? Peter, are you-”</p><p>Peter stumbled and fell to the ground - the feeling sending shockwaves up his body. It didn’t hurt - it would take more than that to hurt Peter with his super-strength and all - but he just <em> felt </em> so much of it. He felt the cold of the tiles, the sting of the impact, the little pieces of dust that stuck against his skin and tangled into his arm hairs, everything.</p><p>But falling had just increased the noise. The room filled with gasps and cameras snapping, wanting to get a good photo of Peter on the ground.</p><p>Tony’s worried mind raced. This <em> had </em> to be some kind of Spidey-Sense-fueled sensory overload, he knew, but he’d never seen Peter get it this bad before. Tony swallowed down his absolute <em> rage </em> at the reporters for causing this - he’d yell at them later - and kneeled down next to his son.</p><p>Out of Tony’s peripheral vision, he saw Pepper’s high heels come out from the back room, then heard her trying to settle the crowd down. Thank God for Pepper. Sadly, the crowd seemed really intent on ignoring what Pepper said, caring more about their headlining story.</p><p>Tony turned his full attention to his kid. “Peter?” He kept his voice low, hoping it would help. “We’re trying to quiet them down. Can you stand up?”</p><p>But Peter still wasn’t responding. His Spidey-Sense kept hyper-focusing on what different people were shouting, but there were too many of them for his brain to work in an orderly way. His super hearing jumped sparratically from person to person. His head pounded in pain. Peter wanted to yell at them to <em> just stop </em> , but his voice didn’t work. He couldn’t think straight. He couldn’t <em> see </em> straight - white lights dancing in his vision.</p><p>His Spidey-Sense finally got completely overwhelmed. It gave up on trying to hyper-focus on all the different sounds and just let them <em> all </em> into his head at once in equally deafeningly loud volumes. He heard everything and nothing at all - just buzzing, white noise completely filling his ears. His head kept aching. The light of the room started to become so bright that it whited out his vision and he couldn’t see. He suddenly became painfully aware of each drop of sweat dripping down his forehead, his underarms, everywhere on his skin. He started smelling the most minute scents, too. He smelt everyone in the room’s body odor, the fake-lemon-scented cleaner used on the floor, everything.</p><p> It was like he was overheating. Like if he was a computer, his internal fans would be spinning so fast they could be heard buzzing from the outside. He felt like too many tabs were open in his brain, and then the spinning rainbow ball popped up, but then the spinning rainbow ball froze. He tried to move his mouth, his legs, his arms, anything, but they wouldn’t move, like he was trying to move the mouse of his computer, but the screen was frozen. He was frozen. He needed to shut down like a computer. His vision started going black like a computer screen.</p><p>He passed out.</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>When Peter woke up, he was on the couch in the back room of the press conference hall.</p><p>He blinked at the brightness of the lights, his eyes taking more than a moment to adjust. His ears were still sensitive, ringing slightly. His senses of touch and smell weren’t going haywire anymore.</p><p>Eventually, Peter’s eyes got used to the light and managed to open all the way. He was greeted to the sight of Pepper a few feet away from him, giving him a small wave.</p><p>Peter trying to ignore his rapidly growing humiliation. He couldn’t believe he just passed out in front of around 50 reporters on <em> live TV </em>. He rubbed his eyes and waved to Pepper.</p><p>Pepper gave him a weak smile, then opened her mouth to speak. The sound was low, but Peter could barely understand it. Her voice sounded like it was underwater and miles away at the same time. The ringing in his ears increased just a bit and he winced.</p><p>Pepper immediately stopped talking, looking apologetic. She mouthed <em> ‘sorry’. </em></p><p>Peter took out his phone and texted Pepper, <em> ‘It’s okay. Where’s Dad?’ </em></p><p>When Pepper’s text notification buzzed - the quiet sound not bothering Peter’s ears too much - Peter pointed at her phone. Pepper picked it up, her eyes filling with realization as she saw the screen. She texted back, <em> ‘He’s currently yelling at the reporters. Don’t worry, he’ll be in here soon.’ </em></p><p>It didn’t take long for Tony to return. Peter’s ears were already starting to feel a bit better. He could hear a bit clearer, but he guessed that any noise above the sound of Pepper’s text tone buzzing would probably still hurt.</p><p>When Tony entered the room and saw that Peter was conscious, he looked relieved. In sign language, he said to him, <em> ‘Do you want to speak or sign?’ </em></p><p><em> ‘Sign, please.’ </em> Peter signed back.</p><p>Tony held his hand up, <em> ‘Okay.’ </em> Then he walked over and sat next to Peter on the couch. <em> ‘You feeling better?’ </em></p><p><em> ‘A lot better,’ </em> Peter signed. <em> ‘I think by the end of the day my hearing will be back to normal. But for now, I don’t think I want to hear anything too loud for a few hours.’ </em></p><p>
  <em> ‘That’s fine. Anything else feeling super sensitive right now?’ </em>
</p><p>
  <em> ‘No, just my ears.’ </em>
</p><p>
  <em> ‘Then can I give you a hug?’ </em>
</p><p>Peter frantically nodded and crashed into Tony’s chest. Tony wrapped his arms around his son. Peter’s brain was finally able to register that he was safe.</p><p>Peter hadn’t realized that he’d started crying until he had pulled away from the hug. He wiped his eyes, <em> ‘I’m sorry.’ </em></p><p>
  <em> ‘No need to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.’ </em>
</p><p>
  <em> ‘I ruined the meeting.’ </em>
</p><p>Tony gave Peter a look, <em> ‘Those reporters ruined everything, not you. You did absolutely nothing wrong. It’s okay.’ </em></p><p>
  <em> ‘Mom said you yelled at them.’ </em>
</p><p>Tony smiled, trying not to laugh too loud. <em> ‘Yeah, I might’ve threatened to sue every major news corporation. We’ll see how many will actually go through.’ </em></p><p>Peter laughed at that - a quiet sound as he exhaled, <em> ‘You don’t have to do that.’ </em></p><p>
  <em> ‘I want to. They hurt my kid.’ </em>
</p><p>Peter’s smile grew a bit wider on his face, but then fell again. His brain had been swirling in a lot of insecure thoughts after what had just happened. <em> ‘Dad, am I weak?’ </em></p><p>Tony flashed his warm smile, <em> ‘Weak? No way, Pete.’ </em></p><p><em> ‘But I’m </em> <b> <em>Spider-Man</em> </b> <em> , and I fainted because of some stupid noise and cameras lights-’ </em></p><p>Tony put a gentle hand on Peter’s arm, rubbing his thumb across the fabric of his blazer. He pulled his hand back to sign again, <em> ‘You’re not weak just because you have some extra sensitive senses. I should’ve told the reporters to not be so loud before you even came out there. And they should’ve listened to Pepper when she told them to shut up.’ </em></p><p>The words didn’t seem to help Peter, who was still frowning at himself. <em> ‘Sometimes I hate that I have my Spider-Sense.’ </em></p><p>
  <em> ‘Hey, those Spider-Senses have saved your life countless times. You couldn’t be Spider-Man without them. Don’t put yourself down just because you’re special, kid.’ </em>
</p><p>The corner of Peter’s mouth curled up. As long as Tony was here for him, he’d be okay. <em> ‘Thanks, Dad.’ </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one was longer than I thought it was gonna be again lol. Hope you enjoyed it! I’m getting a little busy with homework lately but I wanna finish these prompts by the end of the month at least - the end of the year at most - so we’ll see what happens. Getting your kudos and supportive comments always makes my day! Thank you for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Brain Damage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>AAGGGHHHHHH I KNOW IT’S NOVEMBER BUT I WANNA FINISH THESE PROMPTS BY THE END OF THE YEAR!!! I CAN DO IT!!! I WILL DO IT!!!</p><p>Another fun AU for this one! A lot of my original fiction work that I write is cyberpunk sci-fi stuff, so I had a lot of fun writing this! Hope you like it!</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>AU: Android Peter Parker</b>
  </i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It started with a twitch in Peter’s hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony had asked Peter to pass him a socket wrench, so Peter handed him one. When Tony took the wrench, he felt Peter’s fingers suddenly seize up for a brief moment. Tony put the wrench down on the table in front of him, but kept holding on onto Peter’s hand, turning it over in his own. Each of Peter’s fingers would spasm every so often.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s up with your hand, buddy?” Tony asked</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter looked down his arm, his eyes widening like he hadn’t even noticed something was wrong. “I… I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s eyebrows furrowed. “Huh. Run a diagnostic for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Peter nodded. His eyes then rolled into the back of his head - something that Tony didn’t find so creepy anymore. The space where Peter’s eyelids met his eyeballs began to glow a soft blue, as if something was lighting up behind them. After a couple seconds, the lights blinked and turned off, and Peter’s natural-looking brown irises faced forward again. “Nothing seems to be wrong, Mr. Stark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Interesting,” Tony said. “Well, I didn’t program you to be like that, so that means </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> not normal is going on. I’ll have to open up that noggin of yours after we finish up work for the day.” Tony knocked against Peter’s forehead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter laughed and pushed Tony’s hand away. “Okay, fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony loved Peter’s laugh. It was one of the things that really made Peter seem </span>
  <em>
    <span>human</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As everyone knew, Tony was always a genius when it came to robotics. This was shown the most by his Iron Man suits. But he also built plenty of robotics that he didn’t wear on his body. The first robot he built was DUM-E, then eventually came U and Butterfingers. Tony had also been very talented when it came to creating artificial intelligence - JARVIS, FRIDAY - and while neither of them were </span>
  <em>
    <span>truly</span>
  </em>
  <span> alive, they sure seemed and acted like it, complete with the ability to communicate sarcasm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So after the Avengers had gone through what the media called their ‘Civil War’, and Tony was left alone in Avengers Tower, he decided to build another robot to keep him company. This time, he would build a robot that mimicked the appearance of a human - otherwise known as an android.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And every day after Tony had built him, Peter proved himself to be an incredible feat of android technology.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But more than that, Peter was the result of Tony’s own two hands. Sure, the kid hung out in Tony’s lab as his ‘assistant’ and called him ‘Mr. Stark’, but Tony had </span>
  <em>
    <span>created</span>
  </em>
  <span> Peter. Because of that, Tony felt more like Peter’s father more than anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which was why he felt even more worried when he checked Peter’s neuro-motherboard that night and found everything to be in perfect working order.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That didn’t make sense. He plugged Peter into his computer and read over his motor-functioning code, checking and double-checking each and every line. Nope - everything seemed to be fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then why was Peter’s right hand twitching, even now as he was in sleep mode on Tony’s workshop table?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next day, it got worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A whole lot worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Pete, can you go down to the storage room and grab me another spool of 12 gauge stranded copper wire?” Tony asked. He kept his eyes forward, focusing on his hands doing careful circuitry work on his Iron Man suit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he was met with no response, panic rushed up Tony’s spine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony looked up, and saw Peter standing beside the table, staring ahead blankly, his eyes unfocused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter? You okay there, buddy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t react to Tony’s voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony put down his soldering iron and slowly approached Peter. “Kid, you’re scaring me. Say something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t say anything - just kept standing there, staring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony sighed and tried not to completely freak out. It’s okay, he could fix this. He was always able to fix things.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony raised his hand in front of Peter’s face and snapped his fingers. Peter didn’t blink. No reaction at all. Okay, that wasn’t good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He picked up his flashlight from the table. He turned it on and shined it in Peter’s eyes. Peter’s pupils didn’t shrink. They didn’t change at all. That… </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> wasn’t good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony put the flashlight down and took a long, deep breath. He told himself in his head that freaking out wouldn’t help anything, and that the calmer he stayed, the easier it would be to fix what was wrong with Peter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the rest of Tony’s brain was too busy repeating </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘what is wrong with my son what is wrong with my son what is wrong with my son-’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>With Tony now in panic mode, he abandoned all his other work to solely focus on Peter. He laid out the boy’s android body across his work table, then stood on the side closest to Peter’s head. He felt along the edge of Peter’s hairline until it found the hidden switch behind his ear. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kchk</span>
  </em>
  <span> - he pressed it, and Peter’s cranial plate unlocked, allowed for Tony to carefully slide it off. Peter - still unblinking and unresponsive - now had his ‘brain’ exposed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony looked over the complex neuro-motherboard, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he couldn’t see anything wrong with Peter’s hardware. He grabbed his tablet and connected it to Peter with a wire, plugging it into the socket just behind Peter’s skull next to his right temple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s tablet lit up red with error messages. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Yeah, no shit. I can see that.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> But what </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> it that was wrong?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a quick motion, Tony swiped up on his tablet. Blue windows of code and red error messages now floated as holograms in front of him. Tony searched through Peter’s code - it had to be more than just an issue with his motor functioning now, didn’t it? He checked everything he could.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He waved his hand, and a blue holographic keyboard appeared in front of him. He began typing away, breaking through each of the protective walls he’d set up himself, because whatever virus caused this </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to have sneaked past them somehow.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Where was it…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hidden and encoded to look like any ordinary line of neuro-functioning code was some kind of bug. How it had gotten there, how it had gotten past all of Tony’s safeguards - he didn’t know. But that wasn’t important now. What </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> important was saving Peter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which was easier said than done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony started typing again. In a case like this, getting rid of a bug wasn’t as simple as deleting it. He couldn’t risk accidentally deleting a bit of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Peter</span>
  </em>
  <span>, too. He had to write a new portion of code to circumvent the bug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But at least he knew the problem now. He could fix this, he could-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A new red hologram popped into Tony’s vision - </span>
  <em>
    <span>Warning: Core Overheating. Ten minutes until total shutdown.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony glanced back at Peter’s body. Sure enough, the blue glow of the Arc Reactor underneath his shirt was intensely bright now. That Arc Reactor powered Peter’s whole body. It was his </span>
  <em>
    <span>heart</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More than just Peter’s hand was twitching now. His whole right arm was spasming. So was his right leg - jerking to the side, kicking a screwdriver off the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Tony didn’t circumvent this bug before Peter fully overheated, Peter might not recover.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Great, so now Tony had a time limit. Perfect, this was just what he needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He started typing as fast as he could, trying his best to focus on the code in front of him and not on Peter’s body beside him, convulsing like he was possessed by a demon.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five minutes until total shutdown.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony kept breathing deeply. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Freaking out will not help you, Stark.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But he couldn’t help but freak out. He might lose Peter. He might lose his </span>
  <em>
    <span>son</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony never even got to tell Peter that he thought of him as his own kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now he might never get to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had worried about losing Peter before. He’s set up a ton of emergency backup measures just in case. But they’d never be enough. He could download as many copies as Peter’s consciousness as he wanted. He could download Peter’s personality, his memories, all the pieces of Peter that make him </span>
  <em>
    <span>Peter</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He could rebuild Peter with all those pieces put back together, but they wouldn’t be able to completely replicate exactly who Peter is again. It wouldn’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>Peter</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony couldn’t download a backup copy of Peter’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>life</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It wasn’t as simple as that - as much as he wished it could be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he couldn’t mess this up. He was like a surgeon standing over the operating table. He was the only thing standing between Peter living or dying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the latter was not an option.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One minute until total shutdown.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony pressed enter on his keyboard, holding his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a few seconds, the red error messages disappeared and Peter’s body stopped spasming.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No malware detected.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony sighed and sat down in his chair. Finally, it was over. He’d done it. He’d fixed it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>God, that was close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In Tony’s peripheral vision, he say Peter stir. The boy groaned, “Mr. Stark…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hold on kid, don’t move. I gotta put your skull back together.” Tony stood up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter gave a weak laugh. “Right. Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony unplugged his tablet from the socket in Peter’s brain, coiling the wire back up. “How’re you feeling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better. A bit tired,” Peter answered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d bet,” Tony put Peter’s cranial back on. With a </span>
  <em>
    <span>click</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it fastened shut. “You’re safe to move now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sat up on the table, swinging his legs around to face Tony. “What happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You became unresponsive. There was a bug in your system.” Tony’s eyes looked over Peter, making sure all his muscle movements were in working order. As expected, there was no more twitching. “God, you gave me quite the scare, kiddo.” He reached forward and brought Peter into a hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter went tense in surprise, but then quickly hugged back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I couldn’t bear to lose you, Peter,” Tony said softly. “I care so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> much about you. You’re practically my son.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter blinked. “I… I am?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course. You’re my own-” Tony cut himself off, then laughed, “Well, I was going to say you’re my own flesh and blood, but you’re more like my own metal and wires.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter laughed, too. “Y-Yeah. I guess I am.” He hugged Tony tighter. “Thanks for fixing me up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll always be here to fix you up, buddy. Don’t worry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I wanna write a whole cyberpunk AU fic with android peter, but I have so many WIP fics right now!!! Ahhhh not enough time or energy to write everything that I want to. Maybe in a few months when I finish some of my WIPs I’ll write it.</p><p>Thank you for reading!! As always, I love you all, and I appreciate your kudos and nice comments! With my new schedule that I've planned out for myself, I hope to finish these prompts by the end of the year, so look out for new updates!! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Mind Games</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <i>
    <b>!!!!!! BIG TRIGGER WARNING !!!!!!</b>
  </i>
  <b>
    <b>
      <br/>
      <br/>
      <i>
        <b>This one shot might be triggering for people with <span class="u">intrusive thoughts</span>, <span class="u">anxiety</span>, or <span class="u">OCD</span>, because this one shot is based very realistically on my own experiences. There is also a brief mention of suicidal thoughts. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE SAFE IF YOU CHOOSE TO READ THIS! FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS CHAPTER IF THE TOPIC OF INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS IS DISTRESSING FOR YOU! I REALLY REALLY DON’T WANT TO ACCIDENTALLY TRIGGER ANYONE!</b>
      </i>
      <br/>
      <br/>
      <b>I wrote this to vent about my own experience with intrusive thoughts. I wrote it so Mysterio kinda represents what my intrusive thoughts are like. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STAY SAFE IF YOU READ!!!</b>
    </b>
  </b>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was well past midnight, and Peter couldn’t sleep. He sat on his bed in his room in Avengers Tower, holding his knees close to his chest, sobbing and shaking.</p><p>The device that Mysterio had put in him was going off again.</p><p>A month ago, Peter had been kidnapped by Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio. While captured, Beck had done all sorts of psychological and illusionary experiments on Peter. One of the very last experiments he’d done involved inserting a special device against Peter’s skull that secreted some kind of hallucinogenic chemical into his brain, causing him to see vivid, terrifying images against his will.</p><p>The Avengers had finally found Peter and rescued him. He would be staying at the Tower until Dr. Cho thought he was well enough to go home. Luckily, his physical injuries were very mild, and he’d probably get to go back to Queens in a week.</p><p>But most of the damage Mysterio had done wasn’t physical. It was in his head.</p><p>And the worst thing was that he couldn’t tell Tony about any of it.</p><p>The horrifying, visceral images flashed in Peter’s mind - Tony dying, Aunt May dying, MJ dying. Sometimes, it would show Beck too, dressed in his Mysterio costume, snapping each of their necks.</p><p>Peter shook his head, his vision blurry with tears. ‘<em> No! No!’ </em> he thought, <em> ‘Stop it! Stop showing me these things!’ </em></p><p>Then Mysterio’s voice echoed in Peter’s mind. <em> “I’m just showing you what I can do, Peter. This is what can happen if you don’t listen to me.” </em></p><p>“You can’t do that!” Peter shouted to his empty room. “You’re in prison! You don’t have that power!”</p><p>Beck’s laugh filled Peter’s head, so loud that he screwed his eyes shut in pain. <em> “I don’t? Well, if that’s what you think, feel free to ignore me. But don’t say I didn’t warn you of what I’m capable of.” </em></p><p>“The Avengers stopped you! You’re not capable of anything!” Peter sniffed. He just wanted this to <em> end </em>. He couldn’t do it on his own anymore. He had to ask for help. “FRIDAY-”</p><p>“Yes, Peter?”</p><p>Mysterio’s voice quickly rushed into his ears. <em> “If you tell Stark about what I’m doing, I’ll kill him.” </em></p><p>Peter’s eyes went wide. “Y-You… You can’t do that! That’s impossible!”</p><p>
  <em> “Is it? Well, if you’re so sure, feel free to call him. I’ll make sure he dies on his way here.” </em>
</p><p>“Peter?” FRIDAY responded. “Is everything alright? Do you want me to call Boss?”</p><p>Peter felt frozen. He wanted Tony’s help, but if what Mysterio was telling him was true…</p><p>What was he thinking? Of course it wasn’t true! Quentin Beck was in jail. The voice in his head was just Beck’s chemicals fooling his brain. It wasn’t real. Beck couldn’t <em> do </em> that-</p><p>But what if he could? What if he really could? And then if Peter called Tony and Tony died, then it would be all Peter’s fault, just because he didn’t believe Mysterio.</p><p>Peter didn’t answer FRIDAY. He didn’t want to risk it.</p><p>Mysterio laughed in Peter’s head. <em> “Good choice, Peter. I’m the one in control.” </em></p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>Peter finally managed to fall asleep at around 4:30am.</p><p>The next day was hell.</p><p>When he woke up, Mysterio was silent in his head. Peter still felt on edge, like Beck could come back at any moment. Still, he got out of bed to get ready for the day. He walked over to the lightswitch on the wall and turned on his room’s ceiling light.</p><p>That’s when Beck’s voice returned, suddening rushing his senses. <em> “Flick the light switch on and off again.” </em></p><p><em> ‘Why would I do that?’ </em> Peter thought back.</p><p>
  <em> “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill Tony Stark.” </em>
</p><p>Peter’s hand hovered over the lightswitch. “That’s ridiculous,” he said out loud. “That has nothing to do with anything.”</p><p>
  <em> “Fine, don’t do it. Then you’ll have to live with the fact that you caused the death of the man you love like a father, just because you couldn’t take a couple seconds to turn the light off and on again.” </em>
</p><p>Peter’s other hand curled into a fist, his mind swirling with <em> what if </em> statements.</p><p>Well… it was only a couple seconds, right?</p><p>Peter flipped the light off and on again.</p><p>
  <em> “One more time.” </em>
</p><p>Peter did it again.</p><p>
  <em> “Aaaand I think one more for good measure.” </em>
</p><p>Peter’s tense fingers flipped the switch once more. “Is that it? Can I move on now?”</p><p>The voice didn’t respond. Peter shakily moved away from the lightswitch.</p><p>God, it was too early in the morning to be feeling this anxious.</p><p>Throughout the day, Mysterio’s voice made Peter do many other repetitive tasks, claiming that he'd cause Tony to die if he didn’t. Any time Peter questioned him, he’d show Peter flashes of vivid, horrifying images of Tony lying dead, blood trickling from his mouth, and said that was what would happen if Peter didn’t do what he asked.</p><p>Some of the things Mysterio asked him to do included:</p><p>When Peter was getting dressed and put on his socks, Mysterio told him to take them off and put them on again. After Peter got dressed and was about to leave his room, Mysterio told him he had to cross the doorway threshold while knocking his hand against the wall 3 times. When Peter went downstairs to the kitchen to get some water, Mysterio said he had to have an even number of ice cubes in his glass. When Peter drank his water, Mysterio told him to hold the water in his mouth for 3 seconds before swallowing it. When Peter put his water glass down on the table, Mysterio made him pick up the glass and set it down again 2 extra times.</p><p>And this was all before breakfast even started.</p><p>So imagine how the rest of the day went.</p><p>And before every little request, Mysterio would say, <em> “Come on, Peter. It’ll just take a couple seconds. You’d risk Stark’s life just because you can’t bother to do something for a couple seconds?” </em></p><p>But after doing multiple different tasks over and over throughout the day, all those seconds were adding up.</p><p>Peter felt like a prisoner in his own body. He felt like he had no agency, no control over his own actions. He was just a servant to Mysterio’s whims. He was a puppet, a dancing performer that just did what he was told.</p><p>On the outside, Peter tried to seem fine. While in Tony’s lab that day, Tony had asked him if he was feeling better.</p><p><em> “If you tell him, I’ll make sure he dies,” </em> Mysterio echoed in Peter’s head.</p><p>“I-I’m fine,” Peter squeaked.</p><p>“Pete,” Tony said, his tone of voice warm and full of comfort that Peter <em> desperately </em> wanted, “It’s okay if you’re not fine. You were just in the hands of a man torturing you for a month.”</p><p><em> ‘He’s still torturing me,’ </em> Peter thought, but didn’t dare say. Instead, he said, “Really, I’m feeling good, Mr. Stark. I’m happy now that I’m back.”</p><p>Tony eyed him, not believing a word, but he didn’t want to push Peter to speak. “Alright. But you know you can talk to me about anything, anytime you want. I’ll be here.”</p><p>“R-Right,” Peter forced out, swallowing the cries for help he actually wanted to say.</p><p> </p><p>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</p><p> </p><p>The day ended like how it started, with Peter standing next to the lightswitch.</p><p>For some reason, the fact that it was nighttime and dark outside made Mysterio even more scary and powerful. He had told Peter to flip the light switch 3 times. After that, he said that Peter had flipped the light switch <em> in the wrong way </em> - which was apparently something that was possible to Mysterio - so Peter had to do it another three times. And then he apparently did it wrong <em> again </em> , so he had to do it <em> again </em> . And then <em> again </em>.</p><p>Peter had been flipping the lightswitch on and off for 2 straight minutes now, while crying and mumbling to himself, when all he wanted to do was finally go to <em> sleep </em>. He felt so tired.</p><p>There was a knock at his door.</p><p>Peter stopped flipping the switch, but his hand stayed on it.</p><p>“Peter?” Tony’s voice came from behind the door. “Are you okay? FRIDAY told me that your behavior right now is… concerning.”</p><p>Of course, Mysterio said, <em> “Tell him you’re fine.” </em></p><p>“I-I’m fine, Mr. Stark! I’m okay.” Peter said and started to flip the lightswitch again.</p><p>Tony opened the door anyway, seeing the lights in the room go on and off. “Peter? What are you doing? Why are you crying?”</p><p><em> God </em> , Peter wanted to tell him <em> so badly </em>.</p><p>
  <em> “If you tell him, I’ll kill him.” </em>
</p><p>Peter just shook his head. With his other hand, he scratched at his scalp. “Stop it, stop it, <em> stop it! </em>”</p><p>“Peter, stop what? What is it?”</p><p>“I can’t tell you!” Peter shouted. He just wanted this all to <em> stop </em>.</p><p>“Yes you can, Peter.” Tony tried to remain calm. “I promise you, you can. You can tell me.”</p><p>Tony sounded really convincing. Maybe… maybe Peter <em> could </em> tell him. Maybe Tony would be stronger than Mysterio.</p><p>“Tony…”</p><p><em> “Oh, so Stark’s life isn’t enough of a motivator for you now, is it? Fine, how about this - if you tell him, I’ll kill </em> <b> <em>you</em> </b> <em> , Peter. I’ll kill you right where you stand.” </em></p><p>Peter’s eyes widened. His breath hitched.</p><p>
  <em> “That’s right. You don’t wanna die, do you?” </em>
</p><p>Peter swallowed.</p><p>Mysterio had made a big mistake.</p><p>Because Peter would rather die than live another day as Mysterio’s puppet.</p><p>“H-He put something in my head!” Peter shouted through his sobs.</p><p>Tony’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? Who, Peter? What’s going on?”</p><p><em> “No! You idiot! I said I’ll kill you!” </em> Beck’s voice got louder.</p><p><em>‘Then kill me then!’</em> Peter thought. His heart was beating so fast, scared out of his mind. He might die, he might die, Mysterio said he would die. He didn't want to die. But he’d rather risk asking for help and die trying, than not ask for help at all and have to keep living like this.</p><p>Peter felt his whole body shaking with fear. He felt his legs giving out. He began to fall forward.</p><p>“Peter!” Tony caught the boy in his arms before he could hit the ground. “Peter, what’s in your head? What are you talking about?”</p><p>“Beck! H-He put a device in my head!” Peter sobbed. “I-It’s been telling me things… and I can’t… please just get it out! Please Tony, <em> get it out of my head! </em>”</p><p>“O-Okay,” Tony tried to not panic, for Peter’s sake. He kept his face looking strong as he stabilized Peter on his feet, letting him lean against him. “Okay, kid. It’s gonna be okay. I gotcha. Let’s go.” He started to walk, helping Peter along. He then yelled to the ceiling, “FRIDAY?! Alert Dr. Cho. Tell her there’s an emergency and to meet me in the medbay.”</p><p>“Yes, Boss. Right away,” FRIDAY responded.</p><p>Mysterio kept screaming in Peter’s head, <em> “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, Peter Parker! If you don’t do as I say, I’ll kill you!” </em></p><p>“Please,” Peter whimpered against Tony’s chest, “Please help me. Please help me.”</p><p>Tony helped Peter hobble over to the elevator. When the elevator doors opened, He helped Peter inside. They rode down to the medical wing.</p><p>Mysterio kept telling Peter that he’d kill him, and that he’d kill Tony too for good measure. He said he’d kill every single Avenger in the Tower as Tony dragged Peter into the medbay.</p><p>But Peter didn’t die. Neither did Tony. Not a single person in the Tower died.</p><p>Because Mysterio’s words were just that - words. Turns out Mysterio had no power over Peter after all.</p><p>Peter was finally going to be free.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes I’ve actually flipped a lightswitch on and off for more than 2 minutes straight before OOF. I would just like to mention that I am SIGNIFICANTLY better at dealing with intrusive thoughts now because of exposure therapy, which was the scariest yet best thing I ever did. If you have bad intrusive thoughts, I highly recommend exposure therapy, even though it’s scary as FUCK at first.<br/>Hope you liked this chapter! I appreciate all your kudos and nice comments! The next chapter will be posted soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Revealed Secret</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>OK IF I WANNA FINISH ALL THE PROMPTS BY THE END OF THE YEAR, I HAVE TO WRITE 12 ONE SHOTS IN 11 DAYS OK I CAN DO THIS AHHHH<br/>My semester is finally over, all my work for finals week is done, and I finally have time to write! Here’s a new one shot I hope you like it lmao</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“BREAKING NEWS: IRON MAN DISCOVERS HE HAS A SECRET CHILD”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>May was reading the newspaper when Peter came down for breakfast that morning. As soon as he saw that headline on the front page, his jaw dropped. “Wh… What?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you know about this, Peter?” May turned to look at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” Peter’s mind could barely register the words on the page. “What- What does the article say?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>May handed the paper to Peter. “Read it. I’ll get you your breakfast. You want toast?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um… yeah, sure.” Peter couldn’t think about eating right now. He felt like there was a pit in his stomach. He’s eyes raced over the words on the page in front of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Billionaire Tony Stark, Owner of Stark Industries, more widely known as ‘Iron Man’, may have to add ‘father’ to his growing list of titles. An unknown source has leaked a single email addressed to Stark, written by Pepper Potts, Stark’s wife and the CEO of Stark Industries.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>There were then a bunch of paragraphs explaining who Tony and Pepper were, what Stark Industries did, and what Iron Man had done with the Avengers. Peter frantically skipped past them, wanting to get to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> news.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“...the line in the email that had us the most shocked reads as such: ‘The results came back positive, Tony. You are his father.’ Despite this, the email never discusses who the mysterious child is. All that’s known is that he’s referred to as ‘he’ by Potts. His name and age are unknown. We have yet to receive a formal statement from Stark or Potts on this matter, but we assume we will be hearing from them soon.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter felt his heart drop in his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>May’s voice broke him out of his trance. He shook his head. “Yeah May?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright?” She put his plate of breakfast on the table. “You look pale.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I… I’m just hungry, May. Thanks.” Peter picked up his buttered toast and began to eat it, turning his eyes back to the article.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>May spoke before he could start reading again. “I know this is shocking news, but I think it’s exciting. Maybe Stark Jr can become your best friend.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-Yeah… Maybe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That would be what a </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice person</span>
  </em>
  <span> would think in response to hearing this news. But Peter… Peter’s mind was a little selfish when it came to Tony. If Tony had a son, then that meant Tony wouldn’t have as much time to spend with Peter anymore. Peter looked up to Tony like his father, but if there was some kid who had Tony as his </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> father, then Peter would be thrown to the side - discarded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Peter didn’t want that. Peter had lost every father figure that he had been given. He didn’t want to lose another one, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So yeah, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>should</span>
  </em>
  <span> be excited that he might have a new friend. But his relationship with Tony wouldn’t be the same. Tony would have a </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> son. He wouldn’t have any need for Peter anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Peter got to school, everyone was talking about the news. He heard kids whisper in the halls;</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not surprised Stark has a kid that he didn’t know about. The man was such a playboy back in the day. He was bound to get </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone</span>
  </em>
  <span> pregnant.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wonder if he’ll build his son an Iron Man suit. He could be called Iron Man Jr! Or Iron Boy!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, I bet Stark won’t care at all. He’ll probably just give the kid a monthly check and that’s it. Stark’s not exactly father material.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter resisted the urge to tell that kid just how wrong those words were. Tony was an amazing father. He was great at teaching Peter how to build things in his lab, and he always happily helped Peter when he was stuck on his homework. And Tony was great to watch movies with when their time in the lab was done. And whenever Peter would sleep over at the Tower and have a nightmare, Tony always knew how to comfort him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now Tony would have someone else to do all that with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even Ned was excited about the news. He raved to Peter in physics class about the potential of ‘Iron Man Jr’ joining the Avengers. “Maybe his suit will look like Iron Man’s, but with the colors flipped, like red-on-gold instead of gold-on-red.” He gasped to himself, “Oh my god, Peter! Maybe you’ll get to build his suit! Maybe you’ll build his suit </span>
  <em>
    <span>with</span>
  </em>
  <span> him!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, yeah, maybe,” Peter tried his best to match Ned’s enthusiasm, but his heart just kept sinking. Lab time was always a special time between him and Tony. No one else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t go replacing me as your best friend, okay?” Ned warned him. “I know I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>Iron Man’s kid</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but I’m still your Guy in the Chair.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter managed to chuckle. “Right. Don’t worry, Ned. I have a feeling he won’t replace you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Instead, Tony’s gonna replace me,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought to himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Peter went to Tony's lab after school that day, he was not as excited as he usually was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stepped into the elevator and told FRIDAY to bring him to whatever floor Tony was on. He tried to cheer himself up. He shouldn’t act so </span>
  <em>
    <span>selfishly</span>
  </em>
  <span> about this. And besides, this might be one of the last lab days that he and Tony get to spend alone - maybe one of his last lab days ever. Peter shouldn’t spoil it for himself. He should just enjoy it while it lasted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s super-hearing suddenly picked up on muffled shouts coming from the floors above him. And as the elevator kept moving up, those shouts got clearer and clearer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-and you can’t just ignore that, Tony!” That was Pepper’s voice. “You have to do something!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, Pep!” That was Tony. “I don’t know what to do, okay? But for now, I’m not saying anything and I’m not releasing anything to the public. We’re just letting all this blow over. People will forget about it and move onto something else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno, Tones.” And that was Rhodey’s voice. “This is kinda big news. And besides, don’t you think the kid deserves to know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I said I’m not saying </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> right now, alright?” Tony sounded frustrated. “He doesn’t need to know yet. I’ll tell him… I’ll tell him when I’m ready. For now, we just need to wait for this to blow over.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The elevator doors opened, revealing Peter to the room. Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey turned to stare at him as he entered. He put on his best fake smile. “Hi Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts, Mr. Rhodes. D’you guys see the news today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The adults all exchanged a glance. Peter’s eyebrows furrowed in suspicion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, yeah,” Tony finally said. “Yeah, kid. You heard about it, too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course. Everyone at school was talking about it.” Pushing through the ache in his chest, he tried to start some of his regular banter with Tony. “So, when do I get to meet my new lab partner? What’s his name?” He forced out a laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“New… what?” Tony’s eyes squinted in confusion. “What d’you mean, Pete?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, y’know,” Peter forced another laugh, hating that he now had to dig this hole deeper, “I just thought that you’d probably want to spend time in the lab with… with your new</span>
  <em>
    <span> son</span>
  </em>
  <span>, y’know? S-So, uh, yeah. I just thought maybe I’d get to meet him, and like, we’d get to work together. Maybe… maybe we could even be friends? I dunno.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The adults exchanged another look, one that held something like realization.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right!” Tony’s shoulders seemed to relax, tension draining from him immediately. He rubbed his temples. “Right, yeah, lab partner. Makes sense that you’d wanna… </span>
  <em>
    <span>meet him</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Tony then walked over to Peter and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Actually kiddo, I um, I hate to break it to you, but the news was wrong. Those leaked emails weren’t actually leaked. They were fake. It was just someone trying to start up some scandal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh!” Peter perked up, posture straightening a bit. “Oh, well, that’s okay. I… I </span>
  <em>
    <span>guess</span>
  </em>
  <span> I can tolerate lab time with just you then, Mr. Stark,” he tried to joke without seeming suspicious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you better, kid,” Tony patted his shoulder again. “How about you go to the lab now, and I’ll meet you there in a sec.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay!” Peter hurried away, the tension in the air starting to become unbearable. “I’ll start setting up my stuff!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he’d ran down the hall and closed the door to the lab, he let his overwhelming thoughts rush into his brain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why was Tony lying to him? He </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was lying. He knew Tony had a son, because while Peter was still in the elevator, he’d heard them all talking about that fact. They were definitely talking about the kid like he existed, so why wouldn’t Tony tell him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh god, was this part of some kind of plan to replace him? Did Tony think this would be a way of letting Peter down easier? Like, the later Peter knew about Tony’s son, the less time Peter would have to be disappointed? Well, that wasn’t working! Peter was already disappointed! And now he just felt worse! Tony </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> lied to him! They were close. They trusted each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony was already drifting away from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wiping away a few stray tears from his eyes, Peter began to unpack his bag. With his super-hearing, he heard muffled conversation in the room he’d left Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey in, but he tuned them out. He didn’t want to hear about his replacement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, he heard the combination being pressed into the keypad behind him, followed by the sound of the door being unlocked. Peter took a couple deep breaths. He couldn’t let Tony know he was upset.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned around, fake smile wide across his face. “Hey, Mr. Stark!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey kid.” Tony’s face, on the other hand, softened as soon as he saw Peter. His eyes filled with warmth - a look that Peter only really saw from Tony whenever he was comforting him after a nightmare. It made Peter’s heart hurt more, knowing that he might never see that look again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I have some homework to do,” Peter’s voice shook, but he tried to remain strong. “But then I can help upgrade my suit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take your time,” Tony said, sitting down next to him. “If you need help, just ask.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter would usually respond with something like </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘yeah right, like I’ll need help. This stuff is easy,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> but he wasn’t in the mood. “Right. Yeah,” was all he said, then started writing away in his trig notebook.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The to just sat there in silence for a while, working on their respective tasks. Peter did his homework, and Tony worked on his suit. Peter kept trying to focus, but it was difficult. His mind swam with anxious thoughts, distracting him from the equations in front of him. Plus, he kept noticing Tony glance over at him every so often, and that just added to his worries. Why did Tony keep looking at him? Did he feel awkward? Did he not want Peter here anymore? Did he just want to hurry up with his time with Peter so he could go spend time with his </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> son?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s worry must’ve been visible, because eventually, Tony broke the silence to ask, “Hey Pete, you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter immediately tensed, not expecting the question. He didn’t look up from his work. “U-Um, y-yeah Mr. Stark. I’m good. I’m just… a little sad I don’t get a cool lab partner, y’know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter knew it was a bad lie, and Tony saw right through it. “Did something happen at school today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. Really, Mr. Stark, i-it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t worry about it,’</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Tony repeated, letting out a laugh. “Yeah, no can do, kiddo. It’s basically my job to worry about you. Now c’mon, what is it? You know you can tell me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>God, Tony was so </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice</span>
  </em>
  <span> to him. It was going to make Peter cry. He couldn’t let himself cry. Not now. He couldn’t let Tony know how selfish he was, wanting all of Tony’s attention to himself. But he knew that the shakier his voice got with bottled-up tears, the harder it was for him to lie. He’d have to tell the truth. “O-Okay. It’s… It’s really stupid, though, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I doubt it’s stupid if it’s making you think upset.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, trust me, i-it is. It’s… </span>
  <em>
    <span>selfish</span>
  </em>
  <span> of me. I know it is. So, just, let me just say sorry in advance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s eyebrows furrowed. “Um, okay. Sure, kid. That’s alright. Tell me what’s wrong.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter still didn’t look up at Tony. A tear dropped onto his math homework. “I… I heard you guys. While I was in the elevator. Super-hearing and all that. I know you actually have a kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the corner of his eye, he saw Tony sit up straighter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A-And, I mean, I think I understand why you didn’t wanna tell me. To let me down easier, y’know? Cuz… Cuz we both know, once your </span>
  <em>
    <span>son</span>
  </em>
  <span> starts hanging around here, y-you’re…” Peter blinked back his tears, but it didn’t work. They came spilling down his cheeks. “Y-You’re not gonna wanna have me around anymore. I’d just get in the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter, that’s not-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, really Mr. Stark, it’s fine,” Peter cut him off. He really didn’t want to hear excuses. It was just going to make him cry harder. “I-I’ve been thinking about this all day, since I saw the news this morning. I’ve… I’ve accepted it, y’know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not… That’s true, okay?” There was some kind of desperation in Tony’s voice. “I’m not getting rid of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, sure, you say that now,” Peter couldn’t stop himself from saying, his tone bitter, “but later, you’ll see. He’ll be your son, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’ll</span>
  </em>
  <span> just be… some </span>
  <em>
    <span>kid</span>
  </em>
  <span> you found.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter, stop. Just- Just </span>
  <em>
    <span>listen</span>
  </em>
  <span> for a sec-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I know, I’m sorry. I told you it was selfish. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> it is. But I’m jealous!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter, please, just-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re going to be such a </span>
  <em>
    <span>good father</span>
  </em>
  <span> to that kid and you’re gonna forget about me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Peter, I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> father!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter didn’t think he heard correctly. He finally looked up at Tony, whose eyes were closed, his hand rubbing his temple. Peter blinked, “W-What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That email… That was real, kid,” Tony continued, still not wanting to meet Peter’s eyes. He looked so tense. So… </span>
  <em>
    <span>scared</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Peter realized. He’s never seen Tony look scared before. “I don’t know </span>
  <em>
    <span>how</span>
  </em>
  <span> it got leaked to the press. Pep is running an investigation about it. But in that email, she was talking about you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter felt like his brain short circuited. All his anxious thoughts had gone, but were replaced with an onslaught of confusion. “What- How?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Remember when you showed me that picture of your mother?” Tony asked carefully, finally daring to look at Peter - albeit, his eyes still flicking away every so often. “I thought I recognised her. She was a scientist after all, right? I thought I remembered her from some convention. And uh… turns out I was right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s brain slowly processed the words being spoken to him, until finally, his eyes blew up wide, the truth crashing down on him. He covered his mouth with his hands. “H-Holy shit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I… I’m sorry I lied to you, kid. I just… I dunno. I wasn’t ready to tell you yet. I didn’t know how you’d react.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter started laughing, all the worry in his body quickly being replaced with relief - as well as an overwhelming feeling of </span>
  <em>
    <span>joy</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “O-Oh my god, you’re… you’re my dad! That’s… that’s amazing!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not angry?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Angry?!</span>
  </em>
  <span> What?! I mean, my whole life, I obviously thought Richard Parker was my dad, and now I’m suddenly being told different, so I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>shocked</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>angry</span>
  </em>
  <span>! I’m… I’m happy, honestly!” Peter blinked back tears again - happy tears instead of his earlier sad ones. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> a dad. I have a dad who’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive!</span>
  </em>
  <span> And he’s… he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Mr. Stark! That’s… That’s the best news I could ever possibly hear! Unless, wait,” worried thoughts entered Peter’s brain again, “how about you? Are you… angry?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! No, kiddo, absolutely not!” Tony’s worried look was finally starting to relax into a smile. “I had already started to see you as my kid. This just… This just confirms it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter smiled back. “Yeah, I… I’ve been thinking of you as my father figure for a while now. I’m so happy that you’re my… wow. This is amazing. This is so much better than what I was thinking about all day.” Peter looked up at Tony. “Should I call you Dad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s heart seemed to melt at that. “I’d be honored, kiddo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Peter chuckled, “…Dad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony just smiled wider. “C’mere.” He pulled Peter into a hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter gladly accepted it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When you stepped out of the elevator,” Tony continued, “I was so nervous because I thought you knew that email was talking about you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How could I have known that?” Peter laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno,” Tony chuckled back. “I just thought… it was obvious. Who else could be my son other than you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words made a few more happy tears fall from his eyes. Peter buried his face in Tony’s shoulder. “Thanks, Dad. I-I’m honored.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the truth, kiddo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their hug lasted for another moment, then Peter’s head perked up. “Oh my god! I just realized! You made a Star Wars reference!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You said ‘I am your father!’ Just like Darth Vader!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony laughed again and ruffled Peter’s hair. “I think it’s safe to say you got your nerd genes from me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter smiled. “Definitely.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I honestly personally like Adopted Dad Tony more than BioDad Tony, but my friends (shoutout to Hayden and Shardonay!) suggested this idea to me and I really liked it so I wrote it! I hope you liked it too! I will hopefully be updating this everyday so I can finish by the end of the year. Kudos and nice comments definitely motivate me to keep writing, so feel free to leave them!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Creator’s Choice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Creator’s choice chapter!! I decided to write more of that Knight AU I made in <a href="#section0012">Chapter 12</a>. This one shot takes place in the same universe as that one shot. Hope you enjoy it!</p><p> </p><p>  <i><br/>    <b>AU: Knights / Historical Fantasy</b><br/>  </i></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Peter’s longsword flew out of his hands, clanging loudly against the stone floor of the training room. Tony had disarmed him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Again.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It was his knight’s first day of training and he already couldn’t stop messing up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony - Captain of the Royal Guard, the most talented knight in the kingdom, and now </span>
  <em>
    <span>his mentor</span>
  </em>
  <span> - was wearing light armor used for sparring practice, as opposed to the usual red-and-gold metal of his captain’s armor. Peter wore matching light armor as well. Tony walked over to where Peter’s sword had fallen. He picked it up and let out a quiet exhale - although, Peter couldn’t help but interpret it as a frustrated sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re getting better,” Tony said. “Your reflexes have already improved. But you can focus more on your balance.” He walked over to Peter and handed him back the sword, smirking. “There’s no point in mastering all these new techniques if you can’t keep your blade in your hand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter took the longsword back, embarrassed. “M’sorry, Sir Stark. I’m… I’m more used to dual wielding.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you are very talented at dual wielding,” Tony commended. “But to be a knight of the Royal Guard, you must be well-versed in all kinds of fighting styles. Now try again. And bend your knees a little. Lower your center of gravity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter adjusted his stance according to Tony’s instructions, then swung his blade towards the knight. Tony blocked it easily, parrying Peter’s sword to the side, and pushed forward. Peter took a few steps back, deflecting Tony’s oncoming swings as he did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Keep your footing,” Tony advised. “And you can’t keep on the defensive forever. Find your opening to strike.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter was trying, really, but it was hard to focus on so many instructions at once. Plus, dueling with </span>
  <em>
    <span>the</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tony Stark was already making him so nervous in the first place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, Peter found a chance to lunge forward at Tony. But his anxiety, mixed with his exhaustion from training for so long, caused the motion to not be as forceful as he wanted. Tony easily blocked him again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Frustrated, Peter’s strikes started becoming more reckless, but this only opened him up to be more vulnerable against Tony’s attacks. With a few more quick slashes of his sword, Tony disarmed Peter again, causing the boy to stumble onto the cold stone floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dammit,” Peter mumbled under his breath. He looked up at Tony from the ground. “Sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t apologize, kid. We’re just practicing. I’m not expecting you to master everything in a day. Now try again.” Tony reached out his hand and helped Peter up</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter got to his feet and sighed. “Right. Okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After practice, Tony brought Peter to the knights’ mess hall for dinner. Peter thought the food was surprisingly good - although, he should expect that knights of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Royal</span>
  </em>
  <span> Guard were given good food. Peter was glad, because he’d probably be eating here for most of his days in the coming years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the mess hall, Peter sat at Tony’s side. Many other knights that passed by would say their hellos to Tony, as he was their captain after all. Eventually, a knight with black and gray armor approached their table, a broadsword sheathed at his hip. His helmet was off, exposing his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony smiled as soon as he saw him. “Rhodey! How was your day?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just fine, Tones,” Rhodey smiled back and sat down at the table. “Is this the kid?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is the kid.” Tony put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Peter, meet Rhodey, my second in command.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-Hello,” Peter waved shyly. Of course he knew who </span>
  <em>
    <span>James Rhodes</span>
  </em>
  <span> was. He was as well known as all the other famous knights. Peter couldn’t believe he was eating dinner with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tony Stark</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>James Rhodes</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tony tells me you’re very talented, Peter,” Rhodey said to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s palms were getting clammy with nervousness. “Um, I mean, I-I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony laughed. “He’s amazing, Rhodey-bear. You should’ve seen him today at training. He was keeping me on my toes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? Wow,” Rhodey looked impressed. “Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less from </span>
  <em>
    <span>the captain’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> protégé. I mean, if </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> out of all people here chose to get an apprentice, the kid must be a prodigy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He is,” Tony bragged, then ate another bite of his food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter politely smiled and thanked Rhodey for all the compliments, but on the inside, his anxiety only grew. What was Tony talking about? He did </span>
  <em>
    <span>horribly</span>
  </em>
  <span> in training today. He wasn’t as good as Tony was making him out to be. Tony must’ve been lying to Rhodey - too embarrassed to admit that the apprentice of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>captain</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the Royal Guard was so unskilled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter felt pressure tense up his spine - and a weight on his shoulders. He had to live up to expectations. Once Tony realized he wasn’t the ‘prodigy’ that he had thought he was, he would abandon him in an instant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>⎊ ⎊ ⎊</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next day, Peter did worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both dressed in the same light armor from the day before, Tony and Peter sparred in the training room. Not even an hour in, Peter had been disarmed roughly ten times.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony squinted at him. “You’re off your game, kid. You doing okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I’m fine, Sir Stark!” Peter quickly picked up his sword again, almost tripping over his own feet. “I’m just… I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come here.” Tony pointed to the space in front of him, his expression unreadable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter nervously trudged up to Tony, feeling like he’d just gotten in trouble at school and now had to sit at the font of the class.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony leaned down slightly and examined Peter’s face. “There are dark circles under your eyes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter tensed. “W-Well, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you get enough sleep last night, kiddo?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter was too scared to look up at Tony. “I-I… I wanted to practice some more.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you came down here to practice instead of going to bed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter shuffled on his feet. “…Yes. I-I thought it would help. I need to improve. You said so yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, but you will improve </span>
  <em>
    <span>over time,</span>
  </em>
  <span> kiddo,” Tony said, and - to Peter’s surprise - he chuckled lightly under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That gave Peter the courage to look up at Tony, who didn’t look angry or disappointed in him at all. Instead, Tony’s expression was full of warmth, with a glimmer of incredulity in his eyes - as if he was thinking </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘I can’t believe this kid.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just,” Peter stumbled over his words, “I-I didn’t want to disappoint you like yesterday.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’re you talking about, kid?” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair. “You were amazing yesterday! I’ve never seen a more talented fourteen-year-old.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words, plus the comforting hand in his hair, lit a flicker of joy inside of Peter. He even managed to laugh. “I’m fifteen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, right. Same thing,” Tony smirked. “Either way, you’re still a kid. You need to get the proper amount of sleep. Now go to your quarters and take a nap.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s aching muscles and tired eyes relaxed in relief. “Thank you, Sir Stark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re welcome, kid. Don’t mess up your sleep schedule too much, okay? You can nap for a few hours and then go to bed early tonight. I’ll expect to see you here this afternoon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Got it.” Peter hung up his training sword on the rack on the wall and made his way towards the door. Before he left, he turned back around to face Tony. “Sir Stark?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, kid?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you…” Peter suddenly felt nervous again, “Did you really mean those things you said to Sir Rhodes yesterday? A-And just now? Do you really think I’m… I’m good at this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s face softened. “Of course I do, Peter. And after years of training, you’ll be even better. But that’ll be after </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> of training. I don’t expect you to be perfect at this right now. But even so, you’re pretty amazing already.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter couldn’t help but grin at the praise. “Th-Thanks, Sir Stark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go get some sleep, kid.” Tony smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter left the training room and made his way to his quarters.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have now repost these Knight AU one shots in another work too, just so they’re all together. I'll be writing more one shots in that AU eventually. If you want to read them, you can find them <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28352811/chapters/69466860">right here!</a><br/></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Mental Disorder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Time to vent about my anxiety/OCD again woooooo hope you like it lol</p><p> </p><p>  <b>AU: Peter Parker has OCD</b><br/><i><br/><b>!!!BIG TRIGGER WARNING!!! This one shot might be triggering for people with <span class="u">intrusive thoughts</span>, <span class="u">anxiety</span>, or <span class="u">OCD</span>, because this one shot is based very heavily on my own personal experiences. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE SAFE IF YOU CHOOSE TO READ THIS!! FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS CHAPTER IF THE TOPIC OF INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS AND OTHER OCD SYMPTOMS ARE DISTRESSING FOR YOU!</b><br/></i></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Peter had been getting bad intrusive thoughts for a while now, but recently they had gotten a lot worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d just show up in his head whenever </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> seemed to happen. Walking down the stairs? He’d vividly imagine tripping, falling, and breaking his neck. Touching something old or dirty? His brain would think of all the germs that were now on his hands, and he felt like he wouldn’t be able to do anything until he washed them. Seeing someone get injured on TV? His body would tingle in the spot their injury was, and it’d feel like it was being shocked with electricity until he hit that part of his body with his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the worst, the absolute </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst</span>
  </em>
  <span>, were when the intrusive thoughts had nothing to do with anything at all. They’d just </span>
  <em>
    <span>appear</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He’d be minding his business, walking down the street or chilling in his room, when all of a sudden a horrifying image would be placed in his head - usually images of his loved ones dying or getting hurt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And when an intrusive thought came, a compulsion was sure to follow. Besides the aforementioned hitting his body with his hand, Peter had many other compulsions. Flipping the light switch on and off was a big one. So was tapping the table or the wall. Sometimes while he was eating, he’d feel like he had to chew or swallow in a certain way. May would sometimes tease him that it took him so long to eat. Peter would laugh, but little did May know that Peter’s brain thought that if he didn’t chew the right way, then somehow that would cause May to spontaneously die in front of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Peter </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> that was ridiculous. That was the most infuriating about OCD. Logically, Peter knew that tapping on a table did not affect anything from happening. He knew his compulsions, technically, had no link to his intrusive thoughts. But anytime he questioned it, anytime he hesitated before doing a compulsion, his mind would be filled with that infamous phrase - </span>
  <em>
    <span>what if?</span>
  </em>
  <span> What if he didn’t tap the table, and then something bad </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> happen? What if he didn’t chew the right way, and May </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> die? It would be all his fault.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that’s why Peter loved lab time with Tony. When Peter was engrossed in a project, hyper-focusing on what he was doing, the intrusive thoughts didn’t show up as often. Sure, they’d still appear occasionally, and Peter would have to tap on the table a certain number of times to keep them at bay. But they’d show up less. And for that, Peter was grateful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the moment, he was working on a new upgrade to his Iron Spider suit. Tony was beside him, improving his own suit. They worked, listening to the classic rock music Tony always had blasting from the overhead speakers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually Tony turned and asked him, “Hey Pete, would you do me a favor and get me some more solder wire from the store room? I’m running low.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter hesitated before answering. He didn’t like the store room. The door had a frame that was made out of a very thick metal, which caused there to be a large crack in the floor right across the threshold of the doorway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, Peter understood that something as simple as a crack in the floorboards shouldn’t cause such high amounts of distress in him, but nevertheless, it did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh boy, it did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter would always feel like he had to step over the crack </span>
  <em>
    <span>in the right way</span>
  </em>
  <span> as he entered the room. If he did it </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span> - which was something that was apparently possible to his anxious brain - he’d have to step over the crack again. And again. And </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Until his brain thought he got it right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His brain thought that if he didn’t do this, something bad would happen - like Tony getting hurt or dying. Was stepping through a doorway and Tony’s safety related in any way at all? Nope. And Peter knew that. But still, there were all those </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘what if’</span>
  </em>
  <span> statements swirling around in his head. What if he stepped through the door ‘wrong’ and Tony died? It would be all his fault.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pete? You good?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-Yeah, sorry,” Peter forced himself to laugh. “You caught me zoning out. What did you say?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Could you quickly run to the storeroom to get me some more solder wire?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Peter said no, Tony would ask why, and Peter didn’t want to explain. He didn’t even know if he </span>
  <em>
    <span>could</span>
  </em>
  <span> explain. Saying his intrusive thoughts out loud always made his anxiety spike.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could do this. He could </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> this. It was literally just a doorway. “Sure, Mr. Stark! What size?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Point five milimeters. It should be on the middle shelf on the left side of the room.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gotcha.” Peter got up from his seat. “I’ll be back in a second.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Probably much longer than that,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Peter thought to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, kiddo.” Tony returned to his work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Peter walked down the hall to the storeroom door, he felt his heart quickening in his chest. He couldn’t help but feel </span>
  <em>
    <span>embarrassed</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He knew it was ridiculous to be so scared. But he couldn’t help it - he still was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His brain rushed with vivid intrusive thoughts of Tony dying. Since he knew in advance that he’d have to step through this doorway, this gave him plenty of time to think of scary things on the way there. This anticipation - it was the worst. It just made Peter feel even more worked up and nervous about ‘messing up’ walking through the door - which in turn would cause him to actually ‘mess up’ multiple times, preemptively dooming himself for failure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally arrived at the dreaded door. He stared at the large crack in the threshold floorboards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will not be defeated by you,” Peter mumbled under his breath - half talking to the crack in the floor and half talking to his own brain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took a deep breath. Very slowly, he began to take a step. As soon as his foot crossed the threshold in the air, he rushed  through the door like he was running away from a monster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that tingling, pulling feeling in his brain told him that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’d done it wrong.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>There was absolutely no way to explain that feeling. It just felt like he’d done it incorrectly - even though, logically, Peter knew there wasn’t a correct way to step through a doorway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was kind of like… when you look at really detailed, realistic CGI in a movie, but you’re still able to tell that it’s not real. Sure, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>looks</span>
  </em>
  <span> super real, but your brain can still tell it's not. It just looks a little </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span> in some way, even if your brain can’t pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with it. It was a similar feeling when Peter ‘messed up’ doing a compulsion. Sure, he stepped through the door, but his brain still felt like he’d done it </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>, even if he couldn’t pinpoint why.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Peter sighed, turned around, and left the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Attempt number two.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter stepped over the crack in the floor again, this time a little faster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nope - his brain still felt like he’d done it wrong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Attempt number three.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which was soon followed by attempt number four, and attempt number five…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter felt so embarrassed. Why couldn’t he do something as simple as </span>
  <em>
    <span>walk through a fucking door.</span>
  </em>
  <span> At least no one was </span>
  <em>
    <span>watching</span>
  </em>
  <span> him. Many times, Peter had encountered a large crack in the sidewalk on the street - outside, in </span>
  <em>
    <span>public</span>
  </em>
  <span> - and felt the need to perform this whole ritual, stepping over it again and again until he’d done it ‘correctly’. Yes, people were staring at him. No, it was not fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least Peter was alone now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or at least, he thought he was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Back in the workshop, Tony wasn’t too concerned that Peter was taking a while to get the solder wire from the storeroom. He was probably just having trouble finding it. He should really reorganize the stuff there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then FRIDAY’s voice interrupted the AC/DC music coming from the overhead speaker. “Boss, I think you may want to know that Peter’s behavior at the moment is… concerning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony’s eyebrows furrowed. What could Peter possibly be doing? He was just making a quick trip to the storeroom. “What’s he doing, FRI?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have observed on the security cameras that Peter is repeatedly walking in and out of the storeroom.” Along with FRIDAY’s explanation, a hologram appeared in front of Tony showing him the security camera footage. Sure enough, Peter was tentatively stepped through the door, then leaving the room and repeating the process. “He has done this seven times so far,” FRIDAY continued, just as Peter did it again on the security footage. “Make that eight times.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O...kay…” Tony couldn’t help but be confused. “I’ll… I’ll go see what’s going on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony got up from his seat and left the workshop, making his way over to Peter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he turned the corner of the hallway corner, he saw Peter just as he stepped into the storeroom again. He then heard Peter’s voice from inside of the room exclaim - “Dammit!” - followed by angry footsteps leaving the room to start the ritual again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Peter?” Tony called to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter froze like a deer in headlights, whipping his head around to face Tony. He looked terrified to have been seen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You okay, buddy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… um…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you might as well tell me the truth, kiddo,” Tony chuckled lightly, walking over so he stood beside him. “I think it might be hard to think of a convincing lie for… </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter gulped and averted his eyes. Well, Tony was right. What the hell was he supposed to say he was doing? He had to just spit out the truth and hoped Tony would understand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…” Peter stared at the ground, fiddling with his hands. “I have OCD.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Out of all the explanations, that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> what Tony expected to hear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The crack in the doorway threshold is a trigger for me,” Peter kept saying, still not meeting Tony’s eyes. “I-I feel like if I don’t walk through the door in the… in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>right way</span>
  </em>
  <span>, then… then…” Peter sighed. He still couldn’t say the intrusive thoughts out loud. That was too terrifying. “…then bad things will happen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter expected Tony to laugh at him, or scold him for being ridiculous. But neither of those things happened. Instead, he just heard Tony say, “Huh. I see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter dared to look up at him. “M’sorry. You probably think I’m stupid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No way, kiddo,” Tony placed a comforting hand on Peter’s shoulder. “You know I have bad anxiety, too. While doing research about my own problems, I’ve come across all kinds of stuff about OCD.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter blinked. A feeling of hope sparked in his chest. “Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, kid. Now let’s help you get through this door.” Tony casually walked through the doorway of the storeroom. Now standing on the other side, he turned around again to face Peter. “See? Nothing bad happened. Everything’s fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, that’s cuz </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> did it,” Peter said. “It’s… it’s different when </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> have to do it. I-I mean, I know that logically, it’s not. It’s just walking through a door. But… God, I hate this. I hate this so much. I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t apologise,” Tony reassured. “C’mere. Join me in the storeroom. I bet you’ll do it right this time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-Okay…” Peter took a deep breath. Very slowly, he began to step through the door threshold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he was on the other side, standing right in front of Tony, his brain still felt that feeling that he’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>done it wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter groaned. “I messed it up again. Dammit, I gotta do it </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I’m so </span>
  <em>
    <span>sick</span>
  </em>
  <span> of this! I’m sorry, lemme just…” Peter turned around, about to leave the room-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then Tony grabbed Peter’s arms and held him in place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope, you’re not going anywhere,” Tony told him very definitivally.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Peter’s anxiety </span>
  <em>
    <span>spiked</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-What?” Peter’s voice came out sounding so meek and scared. He tried to break away, but Tony’s grip on him was strong. Dammit, why did Peter’s superpowers alway seem to get weaker when he was panicking? His super strength would’ve come in </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> handy right now. His eyes were blown up wide, and his breathing sped up. “W-What do you mean? What’re you doing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A little at-home exposure therapy, kid. You ever heard of ritual prevention?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s heartbeat just got faster as he went into full panic mode. “N-No! Let go of me! I-I need to walk through the door again!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No you don’t, Peter,” Tony said firmly, making strong, direct eye contact with him. “You don’t need to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes I </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Peter was starting to cry now. He tried to squirm out of Tony’s grip, physically feeling his fight-or-flight response going off like alarm bells in his head. “W-Why would you do this to me? O-Oh my god. C’mon, Mr. Stark! Just let me-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re going to stay right here,” Tony’s tone remained strong and calm. “The only way to get past this is to break the cycle. Now, breathe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Breathe</span>
  </em>
  <span>, kiddo. Take some deep breaths with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>understand</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Peter angrily thought to himself. Peter was doing this to </span>
  <em>
    <span>protect</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tony. If Peter didn’t do this, Tony was going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>die</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I can’t, I can’t!” Peter sobbed. “Please just let me step through the door again!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you can be stuck in a constant cycle of anxiety again? No,” Tony kept looking Peter in the eyes, “Either way, whether you go through the door another dozen more times or not, you’re going to feel anxious. So just ride out this anxious wave. Because this way, when it’s over, you’re not going to feel as anxious the next time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter kept crying and trying to escape, but he knew Tony was right. He’d read about exposure therapy before, and he knew this is what he had to do. He just didn’t want to do it </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that’s what he always said. He never wanted to deal with this issue. It was just so much easier to live with the lesser, yet longer-lasting anxiety of living like this - rather than the extreme, yet short-lived anxiety of facing his fears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> In the back of his mind - in the more rational, more logical part of his brain - he was thankful to Tony for forcing him to confront his fears. Because Peter knew he would never have done it on his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Breathe, buddy. You can do it. Take some deep breaths with me. In, and out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Peter breathed. After a while, his heartbeat had started to slow back to normal. His cries were getting quieter, and his attempts to pull away from Tony had stopped completely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it, kiddo,” Tony soothed. “See? You’re okay. Everything’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter took another deep breath, nodding to himself. “Yeah. Yeah, right. Are… um,” Peter shyly looked away, “Are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> feeling okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me?” Tony laughed a little. “Of course I am. Why would I not be?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter sighed in relief. Peter had stepped through the door wrong, and Tony hadn’t died. He was safe. He was standing safely in front of him, perfectly fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But what if-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Peter stopped his intrusive thoughts before they could even start. Tony said he was fine. And he </span>
  <em>
    <span>trusted</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tony. If Tony said everything was going to be fine, then it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-It’s… it’s nothing,” Peter laughing it off. “Thank you… for helping me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No problem, buddy,” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair. “I know how hard that must’ve been for you, and you did such a good job.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter’s heart warmed at the praise. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now let’s get what we came here for.” Tony turned his attention to the shelves on the wall. After a moment of scanning his eyes over them, he found the solder wire and grabbed it. “Alright. Time to leave. And you’re only going through the door once this time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-Okay. Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter let Tony go through the door first. Then, hesitantly, Peter walked through the threshold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His brain immediately filled with that feeling that he’d done it wrong again, and he felt overwhelmed with the desire to perform the compulsion. He looked over his shoulder at the crack on the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Tony grabbed his arm and began to run down the hall, pulling Peter along. “Nope! We’re leaving! You’re fine!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it was because Tony was here with him, or maybe it was because he was still feeling the effects of the mini-exposure-session he just went through, but Peter felt more confident in his abilities to fight his fear. “Yeah, I’m fine!” He said, trying to help convince himself. His mind filled with intrusive thoughts, but he yelled over them - like he was trying to be louder than the thoughts in his head. “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine!</span>
  </em>
  <span> I’m fine I’m fine I’M FINE!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s right, kid. You got it.” Tony laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter laughed, too. With someone else there, it was easier for his brain to see just how ridiculous his intrusive thoughts were. After exposing them for the lies they were, the logical side of Peter’s brain was finally able to get the upper hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They entered the lab and continued their work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And later, when Peter went home, he still tapped on the table several times throughout the evening, and he still flipped the light switch on and off in his room before bed - but it wasn’t as many times as he did the night before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With practice, he could get better. He could gain control over his brain again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was glad Tony had finally made him start.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you guys liked me projecting onto Peter Parker once again lmao. Again, what I wrote reflects <b>my own personal experience</b> with my own OCD symptoms, so it might be different to other people’s experiences, but I hope that if you have OCD you were able to feel seen in some way. Once again, I’ll say that exposure therapy really helps!! And - although it's really difficult - you can attempt to do your own exposure therapy by yourself at home by banning yourself from doing any compulsions. It’s really, REALLY difficult and REALLY scary, but you feel a lot better even after a few months of doing it.</p><p>I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I appreciate all your kudos and nice comments!! Thank you for reading!</p><p>EDIT: I've decided that I'm not going to finish writing all these Febuwhump prompts. I wrote 20 of them and that's enough for me lol. I have WIPs that I wanna focus on writing instead. If you enjoy my work, feel free to check out my other Irondad &amp; Spiderson fics! There's a link to them below.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><a href="https://starprincepunk.tumblr.com">Here's my Tumblr</a> and <a href="https://starprince-art.tumblr.com">my art Tumblr</a> if you're interested. And if you wanna read my other Irondad and Spiderson fics, they’re all <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1421887">right here!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>